More Than Another Pretty Woman
by Betty La Bonita
Summary: A/N: This is one scene I don't usually "mess with" because I feel like their "special night" was already pretty perfect. But I'm going to "tweak it" a bit and see what happens to our favorite couple!
1. Chapter 1

_More Than Another Pretty Woman_

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

_A/N: This is one scene I don't usually "mess with" because I feel like their "special night" was already pretty perfect. But I'm going to "tweak it" a bit and see what happens to our favorite couple! _

"So...how's it going over at MYW, Betty? Are you learning a lot from… HER?"

Betty couldn't stand to see Daniel so broken. His loft looked like a bomb had gone off. Or a hoarder was hiding out. Or both. There were empty pizza boxes, and assorted other empty food cartons everywhere. Not to mention the man himself. He was unshaven, wearing a ratty bathrobe, and looked (and smelled) as if he hadn't showered in days.

"After what that woman did to you, Daniel, I couldn't keep working for her!"

"You quit?" When she nodded, "Mmhmm." his smile lit up, and he held up both his hands. "Is this okay?"

Betty laughed, "You're really into this high five thing, huh?"

After a moment, yet another Fashion Buzz TV "juicy" piece of gossip, talking about how Sofia was seen, dancing the night away at some club or out on the town with a billionaire movie star appeared on the screen.

Betty ran quickly over towards the TV and tried to turn it off, but she wasn't fast enough and Daniel grabbed the racquet she had almost hit him with and threw it, narrowly missing Betty in the process. She saw it coming, and ducked, just in time, but still fell down.

Daniel's eyes widened and he ran over to her, picking her up, "BETTY! Oh my God, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"I can't believe you quit your job for me. What are you doing for money?"

She smiled, "You're looking at the former "Chip Chick" at La Hacienda restaurant in Queens!"

He laughed, "Chip chick? Former, huh? You quit a lucrative job like that? Did you...at least make good tips?"

She shook her head, "Not really! Besides, you know what a klutz I am! I ended up dropping plates and having to pay for them, so...I didn't really make enough to make it worth it to work there!"

Daniel chuckled, nodding, "I feel terrible that I encouraged you to take the job working for HER, then you ended up quitting to show your support for me."

"I couldn't possibly work for that...woman. What she did to you was

terrible! I can't believe I used to look up to her! I mean...I wrote a paper about her?! Now that I know what she's really like…"

"Never meet your idols, huh? Thanks, Betty. Maybe I can call my father and see if there's another magazine you could work at. Believe it or not, he actually offered to fire her after what she did. He said...I was still his son and she hurt me. It surprised the hell out of me to hear him say that. But I told him her little stunt would sell a lot of magazines."

Betty pulled him to her and hugged him, then pushed him away, making a face, "Um, I'm sorry, Daniel, but...you really NEED to take a shower! Go ahead, PLEASE! And I'll...get a dump truck and clean up in here. I'm taking you out. You can't stay here, hiding out forever!"

"You're right. I know I can't." he turned his head to sniff his robe and made a face, as he headed to the bathroom, "I'm going to take your advice and go get that shower. Then I'm going to burn this damn robe!" he started to take it off, but realized he was naked underneath, so he went inside the bathroom, then stuck his hand outside the door, throwing the offending robe to the floor, before he shut the door, turning on the shower.

Betty laughed, shaking her head as she began picking things up, and trying to straighten up. A half hour later, Daniel emerged, still dewy from his shower, a towel wrapped loosely around him, and freshly shaven. The difference in his appearance was startling. "DANIEL!"

He smiled, holding up one hand in front of himself, "You're not going to try and hit me with that damn racquet again are you? I told you, I didn't mean to throw it at you, I swear!"

She laughed, "No! I'm fine. You just...surprised me. You look...great! A LOT better. You smell better, too!"

He laughed, "Thanks! If you could smell me from there, I'd be really worried!"

"I could when I first got here. Please don't let that happen again! Or going out, getting so drunk you order "crotch socks"! I mean...nobody cares, Daniel! I know you're hurting. But…"

"I know what you're going to say. Get over it, right? I hear you. I know you're right. I just … hate that the player got played! She hurt my pride. That I'll get over. But this time...well, I let her get to me, make me think...maybe SHE was...I don't know...different. Maybe she actually cared about the real me. How the hell did I know, I wasn't dating the real HER? The more I think about it, now I'm pissed off!"

"Good! You should be! It doesn't do any good to bury your head in the sand. Or your thousand thread count Egyptian cotton sheets that you've been crying on and spilling...what is that? Never mind! I don't want to know! Where are your clean sheets?"

"Betty, stop! You don't have to make up my bed for me, okay? I'm not a child! I'll do it. Did you clean up in here?" he looked around, seeing there were no empty food cartons and trash lying around in his bedroom.

She shrugged, "Somebody had to! It was a pig stye! Now, how about putting some clothes on? You can't go out like that unless you want to get a job at Boylesque! I'll straighten up downstairs a little while you get dressed. I'm taking you to a normal restaurant that serves fruits and vegetables!"

"Fine, but I'm buying. You're unemployed, thanks to me, remember?"

"You didn't need to remind me." she was hoping he would think of some way for her to come back to Mode. Not that she wanted him to fire Amanda or anything. That wouldn't be fair to her.

If she hadn't quit working for Daniel in the first place, she could have protected him from Sofia! She blamed herself for not being suspicious of Ms. Reyes all along. If she hadn't put the woman on such a pedestal, Betty would have seen through her scheme to humiliate poor Daniel!

Finally, almost an hour later, he came downstairs, looking around to see his kitchen and living room almost spotless. He shook his head, "If you ever want to work as my maid, you're hired! How the hell did you clean up so fast down here?"

She glanced at her watch, shaking her head, "It wasn't that fast, Daniel! You take longer than any girl I know getting dressed!"

"Haha! That's for damn sure! She's got you pegged, buddy! Hey, Daniel! And...this must be the famous Betty I've heard so much about, right? This guy talks about you all the time,little lady! Nice to finally meet you in person."

Betty blushed, "You, too, Becks. I'd know your voice anywhere. I think you were in Africa that one time you called. I heard growling in the background!"

Becks raised his eyebrows, "Nah, that was just some model I was dating. We broke up, though. So, I'm available, now. Listen, if this guy ever gives you a hard time, you just let me know, okay, Betty?" he put his arm around Betty, who giggled, biting her lip.

Daniel pushed Becks away from Betty, "Alright, alright That's enough! Leave her alone, will you?"

"How's it hanging, brother! I heard...well, what happened! Glad to see you're not hiding under your bed in the fetal position like you did that time I stole Marilyn Dibner from you in our Sophomore year at Harvard! You should have seen him, Betty! He was a mess!"

Becks patted Daniel's arm and held out his to Betty, "So, where are you taking us tonight, Danny boy? Somewhere that has a nice, big juicy steak! I've been in Mumbai for the past month and I could...eat a cow!"

Betty giggled, and Daniel rolled his eyes, "Very funny! What brings you home?"

"You! I got an SOS from your biggest fan! Shelly said you were...pretty much a basket case and told me what that crazy be-otch did to you on some damn talk show, no less! OUCH!"

"Who's Shelly?"

"His little sister. She sort of...has a crush on me. Ever since we were in college and she tried to get me to take her to her senior prom."

Becks shrugged, "Hey, you could do a lot worse than my sister, dude! At least she never tried to get you to propose to her! First of all, will you please tell me what the HELL were you thinking, proposing to some chick you just met two months ago? Haven't I taught you better than that?"

Daniel sighed, "Take it easy on me, okay? I was NOT a basket case! I just...got back from Rio!"

Becks raised his eyebrow, assessing his longtime friend, "Then where's your tan? I call bullshit, dude! You were right here, in the bedroom the whole time, weren't you?"

"Fine! Whatever! Let's go!"

"I was thinking Michael Jordan's. They're known for their steak, so...that should make you happy, Becks. Betty, is that okay with you?"

She shrugged, feeling as if she was a third wheel. She stretched and faked a yawn, "I don't know. I'm pretty tired. I think I might let you two catch up. I'll see you around, Daniel. Good to meet you in person, Becks."

"Oh, no you don't! I think this belongs to you, Daniel. And I need a date, too, so…Betty has to come along. I don't share." Becks opened the door wider and Amanda walked in, flashing open her coat to reveal a very short dress. "Oh-la everybody! I'm here, so now we can get this party started!"

For a minute, Daniel was worried she had on even less under her coat, and his eyes widened, but he shrugged when he saw she was at least dressed, "Fine, whatever!"

"I tried to get you a date with Giselle, Daniel. But her "people" said it was too short of a notice. She was already booked to go out with some ball player!"

Betty's eyes lit up, "Oh, that's a great idea, Amanda. Just think, if they became a power couple, people would call them 'Gisanelle!"

"Ooh, I like that! Marc was talking to Wilhelmina about something sneaky as usual, and they kicked me out! I wanted to make sure you weren't here, hiding out like Becksie said you might be! I told him you were in Rio, but he didn't believe it.

Wait, Betty, sorry but I can't let you come with us looking like that. This look might be all the rage in Queens, but if we're going somewhere nice, and I'm going to be seen with you in public, we need to make a pitstop at The Closet first! Maybe you can borrow something from Braveheart that doesn't look like a balloon animal!" she held out Betty's blue puffy coat, making a gagging motion.

"Hey! Be nice to Betty, Amanda! I am coming back to Mode you know and..."

"Let me guess, you want Betty back as your assistant? Big surprise! Fine, Daniel, but since I'm now way overqualified as a receptionist, I'll need a raise."

"That sounds fair." He grinned at Betty, who looked relieved.

He really didn't like the idea of going out as a foursome. He just wanted to go out with Betty, and have a nice, quiet meal. But with Becks and Amanda along, it was going to mess everything up. And Amanda wanted to try and do some stupid makeover for Betty? She didn't need that crap!

He picked up her coat and helped her put it back on, "Betty looks fine just the way she is. Leave her alone, Amanda. I tell you what, why don't you two go ahead and save us a booth and we'll meet you there? You can get started drinking. Here, it's on me." He handed Becks several hundred dollar bills.

"Okay, fine. But be good. Don't do anything I wouldn't do! Are you sure this guy can be trusted alone, Betty? Do you need me to chaperone?" He put his arm around Betty.

Again, Betty giggled slightly. She knew Becks was being silly and cheesy, but...who cared? The guy was a total dreamboat!

Daniel made a face, put his hands on Amanda's shoulders and led her out, pulling Becks away from Betty and handing him off to Amanda, "Right! Betty needs a chaperone from ME?! You're the player, not me, Becks! Get lost! We'll meet you there later."

As soon as they left, Daniel sighed, and plopped on a chair, turning on the television in the living room. Betty made a face and grabbed the remote, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Watching the game! The finals are on tonight!"

"So? Since when do you stay home on a Friday night, watching television? If you don't want to go to the restaurant, there are bars with your silly games on, you know! They're called sports bars! As long as you eat actual food."

"No kidding! I just didn't want to go out with those two idiots! And you don't need...any stupid crap from The Closet!" he stopped, looking at her, switching off the television and crossed to her, "Unless you really do WANT something from there.

It's up to you. We can still go out, maybe get some French food. Do you like escargot? I didn't like the way Amanda was giving you such a hard time before. You look fine the way you are, Betty."

She looked down at her dress. Hardly 'fancy' enough to be seen out on the town with Daniel she thought. "Thank you, Daniel, that's sweet, but if you don't mind, I would like to stop at Mode. I don't want to feel like I did at Madison Six that time with Vincent Bianchi. I'll call Christina. Who knows, maybe she has one of her own designs there that will actually fit me."

"Okay, no problem-o. You came here and waited around for me, cleaned up after me, and got me out of my funk. If you want to get dressed up to go out, I'll wait for you, Betty. It's still early." he smiled, checking his watch. "You're right; I need to get out. Who knows, maybe the paparazzi will follow us. They can call us...Baniel or…Detty!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Bet-ty, hold still, will ya, luv? I'm almost done! This frock looks bloody amazin' on you!"

Betty looked down and her eyes widened, "I miss my glasses, I'm still trying to get used to these stupid contacts, but I feel sort of...exposed, Christina!" She leaned forward, pulling up on the straps, and whispered, "I'm not wearing a bra!"

Christina laughed, "I know, Betty! I designed it. It's built in! Leave those straps alone! They're supposed to be off yer shoulders! And as far as yer glasses are concerned, the contacts show off your pretty eyes."

"But I hate sticking my fingers in my eye!"

"Fashion is never easy, but with yer hair brushed away from yer face like that and seeing yer lovely eyes, you look quite fetchin, I must say! Perhaps just take along the glasses in case you decide you need them."

"Okay. And thanks, Christina. I do love this dress! It's really pretty. I like the daisies."

"I knew you would. Please resist the temptation to add a butterfly belt…"

"I got it, Christina. I wish I had worn my B necklace today, though. I feel...naked without it!"

Daniel knocked on the door, peeking his head around the corner hesitantly, "Nobody's really naked, still, right? Hey, you said I took a long time to get ready! Aren't you dressed yet… um ...BETTY? Whoa! You look...GREAT!"

Christina laughed, "Well, there you have it, luv. Straight from Tony the Tiger himself! Did you find some shoes in there?"

Daniel nodded, clearly speechless at first at Betty's transformation, "Uh huh. Here. You said size six, right?" he started to hand Christina the shoes he had found.

The Scottish woman watched the two staring at one another and gestured towards Betty, "Daniel, perhaps you should help Cinderella put those on. I've got to...go make sure I didn't leave on my iron! We don't want to burn the place down, working after hours, now do we?"

As she left, Christina smiled, watching the heat between Daniel and Betty as he kneeled down to help her put on the shoes. He cleared his throat, as he gently took hold of her leg, and placed one of the shoes on her, "These ...Gucci pumps are not too tall for you? You won't fall? No offense, but you do tend to...trip a lot!"

She blushed, her eyes widened as she felt Daniel's hands on her calf and ankle, placing the shoes on her, helping her to fasten the straps. She felt flushed as his eyes scanned her in a way she definitely wasn't used to being looked at by him. It was a very strange feeling, having the man look at her the way she had seen him look at countless other _**pretty **_women all the time.

Once he had finished helping her put both shoes on, she stood, while he remained seated and placed her hand on his shoulder to steady her while she made sure she was able to walk okay in the heels. Of course, Daniel wasn't only watching her feet!

She let go of him and walked over to gather her things and started to lose her balance at one point. Instantly, he ran over to hold her around her waist to keep her from falling, "Okay? You sure you can handle these, Betty? I can look for some shoes with a lower heel."

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as his gruff, yet soft voice whispered into her ear. She shook her head, looking down at the lovely shoes, "No, I'm fine, thanks, Daniel. It's not like I never wear heels. I just lost my footing for a second. But I'm good now. We can go. Were you able to find a place to eat all by yourself while Christina was helping me get dressed?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes, believe it or not, I CAN make my own reservations, Miss Suarez! I'm not totally helpless, I'll have you know!"

She smiled, patting his chest, "Of course you aren't, Daniel. Did you call Becks to let him know you're feeling better but aren't up to a foursome?"

He raised his eyebrows, "Well, I texted him and told him I was taking you out alone because I wanted you all to myself and he told me that was great, that I should get 'back on the horse'!"

Betty elbowed him, "He did not! You're teasing me!"

Daniel handed her his phone, showing her the text, "He did, too, see? I think Becks really likes you. He wanted to pawn me off on Amanda tonight and take you out himself, but I told him to back off, I knew you first! You're Daniel's girl!"

She smiled, "Haha! Right! Thanks, but I'm pretty sure he was only teasing me. Like you said, Becks is a player. He flirts with girls no matter who they are. It's like breathing to him."

"All I know is, I'm really glad to have you back as MY assistant, Betty! I missed you."

"Thanks, Daniel. I missed you, too. And even though not everybody at Mode has been "nice" to me, I told Sofia that I still felt more at home here. At least nobody at Mode pretends to be nice! Wait...that didn't sound right."

"It's fine. I know what you meant. And I'm sorry you had to take that job as the "chip chick" when you quit working at MYW. Although, I'm guessing if you had worn that dress when you served there you would have made a lot better tips!" he smirked.

She started to put her blue puffy coat back on, feeling uncomfortable with how low cut the dress was but Daniel found a bright red wool coat that he held out for her, "Here. Try this one on. See if it fits. I know your blue one is warm, but this should be, too."

The coat felt surprisingly warm and fit her well. Daniel grabbed her scarf and began wrapping it around her neck slowly, looking into her eyes. He swallowed, "You got...contacts?"

"Uh huh. I've had them for a while, actually. It was...Sof...um...someone else suggested I get them."

"Your eyes are...beautiful, Betty. You really do look...incredible. I think I'm glad Giselle stood me up! I know for a fact you're much more fun to hang out with than any stupid model."

She blushed again, carefully watching her step as they started to leave. Daniel laughed, and touched her chin, then held out his arm, "Silly girl! You don't have to look at your feet all night. Don't worry, Betty! I've got you. I promise I won't let you fall. Trust me."

As they arrived at the restaurant, there were paparazzi out front, snapping pictures. Daniel smiled, "So, I bet those guys are all wondering who my "rebound mystery date" is tonight. Should we go make sure they spell your name right?"

She blushed, smiling, "I seriously doubt they think that I'm your actual DATE, Daniel! But it's perfectly acceptable for you to take out your witty assistant to discuss her much deserved raise!"

He chuckled, "Raise, huh? Hey I'm already paying Amanda a raise! Yeah, sure. I'm kidding, Betty. YOU actually deserve one! Thanks again for dragging me out tonight! I'm embarrassed that you saw me in such a mess and felt like you had to clean my loft!"

She shrugged,"It's understandable. I'm sure if I was engaged to someone and that happened to me, I'd be pretty upset, too! And I know you'd be there for me. We're friends, Daniel. Of course, if you want to go out and have fun with Becks sometime, too that would probably make you feel better. After all, he did come here to cheer you up. That was nice of him."

Daniel shrugged, "Don't be fooled into thinking he's just here for me, Betty. He's not that nice! He's here for Fashion Week!"

"Oh, he does fashion photography, too?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows and she caught on, "OH, right! The models. Of course!"

"Yeah, every year we have this little bet to see, well. never mind. It's not important. I don't plan on participating in our silly bet this year."

Betty looked at him, "Let me guess, which one of you "gets the prettiest model", right?"

"You're good!"

She rolled her eyes, "Well, It's not Rocket Science!"

He grimaced under her scrutiny, "Yeah, I know, we're both dogs! I deserve what Sofia did to me!"

She put her hand on his, leaning across the table, "No, you didn't, Daniel! You're not that bad...anymore."

He smiled, then glanced down at her hand, raising one eyebrow, so, are you ever taking off your coat? Aren't we supposed to be at least giving them something else to talk about other than HER dumping my ass on live TV? That is, IF you really do trust me!"

She bit her lip for a moment, then scooted back her chair from the table as he walked around and helped her take off her coat. He placed it on the chair between them and sat back down, grinning.

She narrowed her eyes at him, looking down to make sure she wasn't showing too much cleavage, "What is so funny?"

"Nothing! You look hot! But I was thinking that if you didn't like the escargot, you should have just said so!" He placed several snails on the table that fell out of her coat pockets.

She hid her face, "Sorry!"

He laughed, standing back up as he glanced out at the paparazzi , handing her back her coat, "It's fine, but do you want to get out of here and go get some pizza? Let's see if we can ditch those guys! Come on!"

They ran down the street, Betty as fast as she could on her heels, with Daniel helping her, both laughing as they managed to ditch the paparazzi, by sending his town car in the opposite direction, while they hid in a shop, then peeked out.

"That was so much fun! One bad thing, though. Now we don't have a car!"

He glanced down at her shoes, "I can walk if you can. I'm in no hurry to get back to an empty apartment! I've been there, moping long enough!"

Betty's eyes lit up, as she spied a wedding reception going strong in the courtyard of a busy bar, "Have you ever crashed a wedding? Wanna dance?"

Daniel grinned, "Hell, yeah! Should we make up fake names?"

She shrugged, "Last names, maybe. First names are too easy to slip! How about...you be Daniel Sanchez and I'll be Betty Scott?"

Daniel made a face, "Sanchez? You're kidding me, right? If I was any whiter, I'd be transparent! Nobody's going to believe I'm Latino! And what's this 'Scott' shit? Now you want to marry Becks? Please! If you want to pretend to be married to someone, at least make it somebody who's not going to 'fake' cheat on you!

Hell, we can pretend to be newlyweds! I'll be Daniel Owens and you can be my new bride, Mrs. Betty Owens."

"Owens?"

He shrugged, "I knew a guy at Harvard named Connor Owens. He was really cool. So, how about we just got back from our honeymoon in...Maui...no, Kaui! It's more secluded and private! We had a lovely vacation villa there but we barely left the bedroom long enough to see anything!"

She blushed, elbowing him, "DANIEL! Seriously? Who's going to believe that?"

"Anybody. You look...pretty awesome, you know. Give yourself some credit, Betty. I'd marry you. Any guy with half a brain cell would."

She smiled, chewing on her lip, "But...my braces."

He leaned forward and smiled as he put his arm around her, grinning, "So what? It just makes you look young, sweetie! Nothing wrong with that! I know. How about you're my much younger 'trophy wife'? I'm a thirty-six year old billionaire publishing mogul and you were my twenty year old housekeeper and we fell in love. Sorry, if that's too...ethnic. But, remember we're just role-playing.

Besides, snobby people like this are shallow and judgemental. If you feed into their stereotypes, they tend to buy it. Believe me, I've been to enough of my father's bullshit corporate events! Everybody's lying in some way or another. This is just for a laugh. See how many guys you get to hit on you. Then maybe you'll believe how good you look tonight!"

"Even when I tell them I'm married?"

He nodded, "Hell, yeah! It's like catnip."

"Oh no! I forgot I don't have a ring! Nobody's going to believe this!"

He grimaced, fishing in his pocket, and produced the canary diamond ring Amanda had given him back after getting it off her finger. "Here. With this ring, I thee pretend to wed."

He grinned as he slid it on her finger and kissed it, "I'm the type who doesn't wear my ring all the time or...we could say it was a little big for me and I lost it on the donkey ride in Hawaii. I know; maybe Jaws ate it the one time we actually left the room and went snorkeling! Anyway, I'm waiting for my new one."

Betty laughed, grateful for the fact that Daniel was obviously having a good time, getting out of his own heartache and enjoying himself. He glanced at her, "What? What are you looking at?"

"You. You're good at this."

"What, lying? Well, maybe I'm good at bullshit. I can't really tell a lie about my real life. I suck at it. But this is different. This is 'wish fulfillment' or like I'm acting on stage or something, playing a part, you know. It's fun!"

He rolled his eyes, as he noticed her smile, "Yes, fine, I know what you're thinking. I'm having a good time. Not even thinking about "HER" anymore now, okay? Is that what you want to hear, Betty?"

She pulled him to her to dance closely, as she whispered, "That's great news, darling!"

"Darling?" he noticed the older woman who had been headed in their direction stopped and walked away, "I get it. So...Mrs. Owens? Are we good on our backstory?"

She nodded, "Mhmm...did we get married inside a church or on the beach?"

"Beach, definitely! Guitar played as you walked down the aisle, right?"

"No. Ukelele. It's more authentic."

"Wow, you're really good at this, too!"

"I was a Thespian in high school and played one of the Hot Box Dancers in Guys and Dolls in my senior year. My best friend Tamia got the lead role of Sarah Brown, though. I was so jealous of her, I yelled at her in drama class!"

He laughed, "Too bad, I'm sure you would have been much better than her! Ready to earn your Oscar now, Meryl Streep? We're going over to the buffet and get some cake. Then I promise, I'll actually pay for your pizza. You're lucky you're such a fun date! I still can't believe you wasted perfectly good escargot! Silly girl!"

She made a face, "They were gross! I don't care what you call them; they're still snails! Just because you put garlic on them, doesn't change that!"

"You're adorable!" he smiled, then stuck out his hand as a guest came and introduced himself, "Hello! I'm Jack Danver, the bride's best friend. You two look like you're having a great time! Whatever you do, don't try the crab dip! I'm pretty sure crab isn't supposed to be grey!"

"Hey, Jack! I'm Daniel Owens. And this is my wife, Betty. We just got back from our own honeymoon. How about you? Are you looking to tie the knot yourself? I take it the groom is okay with his new bride having a best friend who's a guy?"

After mingling for an hour or so, dancing and enjoying their cake, they slipped back out the way they came, laughing, "Oh, my God, what a great way to get free cake!"

"And bridesmaids! Man, they were all looking pretty desperate, weren't they?"

Betty laughed, elbowing him, "You HAVE to call that blonde! She was totally into you! The one with big boobs, Sandy or Sarah, what was it?"

He shrugged, "I don't remember. I don't know. Maybe."

"Daniel! Call her! Or I'll keep saying boobs!"

He glanced over to her, as she finished buttoning up her coat, trying not to stare at hers, "We'll see. What about Jason? And who was that weird guy with the funny hat? He was definitely hitting on you! I told you the wedding ring wouldn't be a deterrent. I think it's the opposite with some guys. It's like a challenge!"

"The same goes for women. When you told them you were back from your honeymoon and WITH your new wife, they acted like they could care less!"

They slowed down, as they noticed the light on at a pizza place a few blocks ahead, "Oh, Tony's! I know this place. Their pizza is pretty good. And they have Karaoke! Come on, it's half off if we sing!" She pulled him along behind her.

"Sing? But I'm rich!"


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

_A/N: Okay, Detty fans, this is it. The big "bridge" scene! Don't get your hopes up too much. I'm certainly no Silvio Horta and I might leave you "unsatisfied" with the end of this chapter if you were expecting me to have them run off together. Just keep in mind, it is only chapter three, so there's still a very long way to go at this point in this story. The whole reason we love them so much is they knew each other so well. Maybe four years is a bit long, but this was less than a year, so...give me time. I predict a lot sooner than my lucky 13. _

After scanning the room, and seeing the place was packed, Daniel shrugged, "There are no tables, Betty. Maybe we should try someplace else."

She looked down, "I would, but...I'm hungry! Sorry! I know you tried to feed me already. We could order drinks at the bar, and as soon as a table opens up, grab it."

He hesitated, and she looked up from her eyelashes pathetically, batting them, "Please, Daniel? My feet hurt!"

He pointed at her, grinning, "I told you those shoes were too high for you."

"Fine, you were right. By the way, so is this stool! Are they trying to discriminate against short people drinking alcohol or something?" She had tried unsuccessfully to climb onto the stool.

"You want some help?" he smirked. When she nodded, he grabbed her around the waist and easily lifted her onto the stool. "Voila! My lady!"

She giggled, and when the bartender asked to see her ID, she rolled her eyes and complied, showing him her driver's license.

"I'm so over these stupid braces! Everybody thinks I'm twelve years old!"

He nodded towards her coat, "Well, there's an easy solution to your problem. If you...sorry, never mind. I shouldn't say...forget I brought it up!"

"Brought what up? What are you talking about?"

"It's not appropriate for a boss to say. I don't want to make things weird between us."

"What are you talking about? We tell each other everything. Besides, if it helps, I'm not your assistant again...YET, Daniel! Tonight, I'm just your former assistant, and the unemployed former assistant to the stupidest woman and biggest bitch in the world!

I haven't started my 'new/old job' as your assistant/soon to be junior features editor/best selling author/manager and co-owner of my own magazine!"

He laughed, "I see! Wow! That's a lot of slashes and 'soon to be''s in one tiny little person! Who knew? Okay, then. Since you're currently not my employee, I guess that puts us in Switzerland, so to speak, huh? So it means, I can tell you something a little...inappropriate without any sexual harassment charges, right?"

"Excuse me? Daniel...what are you talking about? We always say stuff that's 'inappropriate'! Just tell me whatever it is. I'm not going to sue you!"

"Fine. Because what I started to say was, if you don't want to get carded, you should take off your coat! Let the world see what nature blessed you with and...um...be proud! Own it! Because Betty, you have very nice, very, very beautiful, um…" he looked around and leaned down to whisper, "big boobs!"

The moment he said it, he winced, "Sorry! Okay, see, that was way inappropriate. And now I feel creepy and like some disgusting pervert for noticing. Forget I said that. Chalk it up to being in "Rio" for too long, cutting myself off from polite society. I've suddenly lost my manners. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Betty."

She giggled, as she took a large sip of her wine, and took off her coat, "It's fine. But now you see why I normally never wear anything like this. I'm not my sister!"

He nodded as he drank his wine, "I get it. You don't feel the need to flaunt yourself. You're a really smart, incredibly kind woman and having a great bod...um nice figure isn't all there is to you. You don't want people to judge you as not being smart because they get distracted by your body. Not to disparage your sister, of course. I really don't know Hilda. But I would have to say that you're a lot classier than a lot of girl...sorry, women."

They sat at the bar for a while, sharing a bottle of wine, listening to people singing. Betty noticed he was looking troubled, "You're thinking about her, aren't you? This night was supposed to distract you."

He shrugged, "It's pretty bad when a tone-deaf karaoke singing truck driver reminds me of my ex, huh?"

She smiled at him, "You know, I'd actually say I'm jealous of you right now, Daniel."

"Jealous? Because I'm a mess? I'm anxious to hear where this is going."

"Because you put yourself out there. Yes, maybe you got your heart broken, but at least you were willing to make a commitment! I wish I knew what that was like."

"To be committed? It sucks! Especially when the woman you thought you loved sticks your heart in a blender in front of the whole world!"

"I meant...to be willing to swim the East River in January. To have that kind of love for someone. You do that, Daniel. You're impulsive, you take risks. Yes, okay, you got hurt badly. This time.

I think you have to dream big and swing big sometimes. That's not so easy for everyone. Some of us always play it safe. Maybe we don't get our hearts broken. But we also don't know what it feels like to be in love because we don't give it a chance. Fear holds us back into...settling."

"You've never been in love?"

She shrugged, "Not really."

"I thought you were seeing that tall guy in accounting, Henry?"

"No, I'm dating Walter."

"That guy? The one who cheated on you? I thought you already cut him loose! He's even more of a loser! He really is "settling"! At least Henry is totally into you. But I'm biased. I happen to think you can do better than either of those guys! Look, you're young, Betty. Don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to get your heart broken. Or probably in your case, break a few yourself!"

"Thank you, I guess. Although I don't really want to hurt anyone. Oh, look, those people look like they're almost done eating."

"The ones right in front of the stage?" he asked nervously.

She grinned, "Are you too shy to sing in public, Daniel? Haven't you ever done Karaoke before? It's fun! I do it all the time. I can't sing very well, but the more you drink, the less you care! So maybe we should get some more wine!"

He smiled at her, "Yes, I know you're no Mariah Carey, sweetie, trust me. I've heard you sing along to your headphones at your desk! I mean, you're a great assistant, but...don't give up your day job!"

She punched his arm, "That's mean! I just realized I've NEVER heard you sing, Daniel. How come? You can dance pretty well. You were good at the wedding. You've gotten a little better at the Salsa. Oh, they're leaving, let's go sit there and order our pizza and sign up for singing."

"Betty, I really don't like to sing in public!"

"Why are you so embarrassed about singing karaoke!"

After they had moved to the vacant table and they were eating their pizza, Daniel sighed, leaning back, "Look, if you must know, I don't like to sing because...I used to have a silly band back in junior high and...we got booed, okay? It kind of messed with my confidence."

She looked at him sympathetically, then smiled, "Aw, Daniel, YOU had a confidence problem? Knowing you now, I'd say you got over it pretty well! Besides, listen to this guy, it's not like anyone expects Pavarotti at a karaoke place! It's just to have fun.

You're not supposed to be a great singer! I bet you're not that bad. You have a great speaking voice. Sometimes when you're younger, you go through uncomfortable changes."

Daniel took another sip of wine, and grinned, "You mean like you, wearing braces?"

"Exactly! But I just wish I didn't have to STILL wear them as an adult."

"You'll get them off soon, then the world will see that amazing smile you've been hiding. Like...the rest of you." he gulped a bit as she leaned towards him, "Thanks, Daniel."

He smiled, raising his eyebrow, "So...you really like my voice?"

She nodded, feeling her cheeks flush, so she took another 'shot of courage', "Uh huh. Sure, it's really nice." She wasn't going to tell him he had a speaking voice that sometimes sent tingles up her spine. He had felt uneasy, talking about her cleavage, and she felt uncomfortable talking about his very sexy voice. (Not to mention that expensive cologne of his that literally buckled her knees!)

"See? I don't dare tell you this stuff because your ego is normally already huge! I think if you're scared to sing in public because of some past humiliation, this is good therapy for you, Daniel.

Look, when I found you, you were upset and now, you're out, you look great, you definitely smell much better and you're going to come up on that stage with me and sing your heart out to a bunch of strangers because you need to prove that you will survive without stupid Sofia! You don't need her to be a great catch! Come on, it's our turn!" she pulled him up on stage with her as she heard their number called.

Daniel grabbed his glass of wine, looking slightly panicked, "Please tell me we're not singing THAT song! That's a chick's song! I'm not singing 'memories', either! Can we talk about this, Betty? I'm not nearly drunk enough to sing!"

She smiled, as she grabbed his glass of wine and stole a sip, then handed it back to him, picked up the microphone and handed him his, then began singing, "They say we're young and we don't know. We won't find out until we grow."

Daniel slugged down the rest of the wine for courage and sang, "Well I don't know if all that's true, cause you got me, and baby I got you."

"Babe. I got you babe. I got you babe."

They both got more confident in their singing and hammed it up a bit for the audience. When Betty sang, "I got flowers in the spring", Daniel grinned, holding up her left hand to show off the engagement ring that she was still wearing, "I got you to wear my ring!"

Which of course pleased the audience greatly, assuming Daniel had just proposed to her and this was some sort of celebration of her accepting. Betty blushed but continued the song, and when Daniel took her hands in his, he poured on the charm, as he sang, "then put your little hand in mine. **Together **there ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb."

As they continued to sing, both began to be affected by the song's lyrics and how it actually applied to them. Not just a silly sing along, the deeper meaning started to sink in, that they were a great team. At work and as friends, as people. They really "got" each other like no one else.

They received plenty of appreciation for their performance. Betty excused herself. When she returned, he asked, "Hey. Are you okay? What's wrong? "

She bit her bottom lip, an adorable habit of hers when she was thinking that sort of got his heart racing for some silly reason he had started to notice lately.

"Daniel, you do realize they thought we were...like together? That they thought this was...really mine?" she tried to take off the ring, but it seemed stuck.

He shrugged, putting his arm around her, "Yeah. So what? I thought that's what this was, pretending that I don't need "what's her bitch" anymore, that I'm over her and moving on to greener and younger and prettier pastures!"

Betty continued to struggle to get the ring off to no avail. Her eyes widened at his words, "Wait, you thought this was a DATE? Like a real date date? Are you crazy?" she pulled away, clearly annoyed with his casual attitude.

"No. I don't think I'm crazy. Why, what did you think tonight was?"

"A business dinner."

"Business? Seriously? Betty, come on, we've always gone way beyond business, the first month we worked together! You're my best friend. You told me when you had your first orgasm for God's sake! Which by the way, I say you faked, Meg Ryan, just to make the guy feel better.

And I've shared all kinds of intimate stuff with you. Stuff I've never told anyone! You're like the best possible friend. You're a woman that I don't get all weird around. I feel like we can tell each other everything!"

"Right. Because you're actually not trying to sleep with me. Your father hired me because he knew that I was the last woman on earth you or any man would ever want to sleep with! That is why I initially got this job, Daniel. You do remember that? I can tell you it's pretty hard for me to forget! What do you think that does to MY confidence? Or lack thereof? It's not very flattering! In any case, the most you could call this night is 'hanging out with your buddy" then, definitely NOT a date!"

"Fine, whatever. Have it your way, Betty. It's not a date. But...I gotta say, it FEELS like a date. And probably the best one I've ever had. At least so far. Let's go! I've got one more idea for our "Not a date" night. Trust me, you'll like it." They both got their coats and headed outside.

As they continued to walk, she saw where he had in mind, "The Brooklyn Bridge?"

"Yeah. I've never walked on it before at night like this. It's amazing, seeing the city from this side."

She sighed, as they finally made it up to the pinnacle and leaned on the railing. "Really? This is the only way I've ever seen it. It is really beautiful, especially at night. It reminds me of a blizzard!"

"A blizzard?"

"Uh huh. You know, when the whole city stops and everything kind of sparkles."

He smiled as he watched her face light up. He took her hands in his, warming them up by rubbing them, "You're going to make a great writer, someday. You have this intense way of looking at things."

"Thanks. The next time I get blocked, I'm going to come here for inspiration. Five am, I'll be here."

"Let me know. I'll meet you."

He looked out at the water below, "You know, Alex used to do that. He'd be out, partying all night and call me up from someplace in Chinatown or wherever and say, "meet me!" and we'd hang out."

"You must really miss him. How did he…?"

"He jumped out of a helicopter, skiing on Mt. Juneau. Alex found chairlifts tedious."

"I'm sorry, Daniel. You don't talk about your brother much."

He shrugged, "I try not to think of him as really dead. Just on some endless trip around the world. Hey, at least he died like he lived. If there was no risk, Alex wasn't into it!"

She listened quietly, then squeezed his hand, "I miss my mom, too. I think it's really sweet that you go to your brother's grave every Sunday. I still talk to my mom sometimes. When I'm really having a difficult time. Or something happens that I would normally share with her. It...helps somehow."

As she spoke, he watched her expressions, and turned to her, She dropped a glove, and he picked it up for her and helped her put it on over the ring, looking into her eyes, "So...do you need help, dumping the cheater? This is the same guy who stalked you when you tried to break up with him before and gave you batteries, right?"

"Yes. But don't worry about it, Daniel. I'll handle Walter."

"Will you let me help you for once? You always think you need to be the only one to "fix" everything. I actually have an idea of how to get rid of him once and for all."

"You have enough on your plate."

"Hey, maybe I want to distract myself by helping you for once. I tell you what, keep the ring for a while. At least long enough for the dweeb to see you wearing it. I figure I owe you a fake engagement to make up for our "fake date" tonight! If anything, at least we got the paparazzi talking about something besides how the bitch crushed my balls! I gotta tell you, I'm not looking forward to facing her at work on Monday!"

"So, it sucks for a while, but then you move on! I'll be with you. I'm so glad to get my job back! It's going to be crazy, getting ready for Fashion Week! It's sweet of you to offer for me to use this ring, but I'm sure it's really expensive and I'll get it off, I promise! Although, Amanda is a lot skinnier than I am and SHE had a hard time getting it off. I should never have put it on!" she started to panic, pulling at it.

"I haven't even bothered to take the other rings back yet, anyway. Hey, at least she gave me the other one back! I guess she could have kept it. Trust me, I'd much rather have you keep this one than have her or Amanda running around, pretending to be my fiance!"

"But you actually proposed to Sofia!"

"Don't remind me! I didn't propose to Amanda, that's for sure. I felt bad that she used to have a thing for me, though. I heard she was supposedly threatening to kick Sofia's ass! I'd pay good money to see her do that. Or you. I wish I could have seen her face when you quit. You know, Amanda might really be a good match for Becks. At least she could occupy him long enough to forget about that damn bet! They're sort of perfect for each other now that I think about it."

He took her hand, and removed the other glove, then kissed both hands, "It's fine. It fits you, 'Mrs. Meade'. You know, that honeymoon we talked about sounded really fun! Too bad we can't both go to Rio or Hawai'i for real … together! That would sure cause a stir, wouldn't it?" he winked at her.

She blushed, "Right! Like you'd go with some 'nobody' from Queens! Maybe Giselle. Too bad she was booked."

"Will you stop talking about yourself like that, Betty? You're better than some supermodel I don't even know, you're better than…"

"Any other 'pretty woman'? Better than Sofia?"

"Definitely better than that bitch, hell yes!"

"Right, well thank you, Daniel. I know you're only saying that because you think you hate her now. That's sweet. But I'll stop doubting myself when you do, okay, Mister? You need to stop thinking your life is over just because that woman was too stupid to realize how lucky she was to have you, Daniel!

She's going to regret letting you go, believe me! She had the best guy ever and she hurt you like that just to sell her stupid magazine cover? Like I said, she's tot! I can't believe I ever looked up to her!"

"Yeah, me, either! You're usually smarter than that and have better taste!" he teased.

She hit his arm, "Thanks!"

He hugged her, then held her by her arms, trying to get her to look at him. Finally, he lifted up her chin, "Hey! Listen to me. You're way better than any other random pretty woman because you already are beautiful, Betty. Inside AND out! You got that? And don't you forget it!" he brushed back her hair.

He had to admit to himself if this really was "Switzerland" and they weren't going to be working together again, this was definitely one of those times when he would have kissed her. The way she looked at him told him he wasn't completely crazy to think his growing feelings might be reciprocated. But the last thing he wanted was to use Betty in any way as a way to 'get over' Sofia or have her feel like she was only some 'rebound girl'.

She deserved to be _**the one**_. Eventually, some lucky guy at some point would realize how amazing she was and sweep her off her feet. He wished he felt lucky. He was the one who would probably end up being HER assistant someday. This girl was special. Even an idiot like him could see that!

"Oh, the hell with it!" he was done second-guessing himself. He pulled her to him and kissed her for all he was worth.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Okay, folks, here's where we are 'going off the rails' so to speak. I will reference some canon tidbits here and there, but in this A/U, we will not be dealing directly with Alexis' coming out party, etc. Betty and Daniel are going to branch off in a very different "path" here from now on. _

Betty felt Daniel's lips on hers before she knew what was happening. He was that quick. The first kiss was soft, gentle, and hesitant, as if he was unsure of himself, or perhaps more accurately, unsure of HER reaction and whether or not his overture would be a welcome one.

Gradually, though, as she responded to him enthusiastically, his arms slid around her waist and he deepened the kiss. She could swear she felt her toes tingling and she was quite sure it wasn't just because her feet hurt in her Gucci shoes!

Finally, he gently pushed away and leaned his forehead against hers, smiling, as he brushed back her hair out of her eyes, "I know you said this wasn't a real date, but you also said I wasn't your boss tonight, so...I figured I'd better take my chance and get that kiss in while I could. Besides, I still say it IS a date!"

"You win. It was a date!"

"Was? Is it over? Am I taking you home now?"

She nodded, looking down at her watch, "Well, it is almost three in the morning. I am a little tired. I think I'm going to sleep in tomorrow. Unless, you need anything before Monday?"

**( ****Collapse**** )**

He shook his head, "Don't do that, Betty. Don't be my assistant again right this minute. I know it's late or...early, so I'll take you home. But, maybe I could at least...walk you to your door? Keep pretending this was a date?"

In fact, I think Ms. Reyes had one thing right and that's you. I've been wasting your talents having you run around, getting my coffee, and doing idiotic errands for me when you should have a much bigger role at Mode. The day you took care of things for the Baby Chutney shoot I heard what a great job you did. In fact, both you and I know, you're the one who's been doing my job most of the time, especially when I've been screwing around."

Her eyes widened, and her breath hitched slightly, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, when we go back Monday, I'm going to make you an Associate Editor. It's the least I can do."

A smile spread across her face, and she jumped up and down, then threw her arms around him, and kissed him excitedly, "THANK YOU! Daniel! I can't believe this! Ohmygod! That's...that's...amazing! I don't know what to say!"

He laughed, holding her by her arms, then took out his phone and texted his car to come pick them up, "Well, that's a first, you speechless! Although, I'll take the kiss."

She smiled, shoving him lightly at that, but still extremely excited, "Are you sure about this? I mean...who's going to be your assistant now?"

"Well, if Amanda still wants the job, I guess she can stay being my assistant after all. But I'm not giving her another raise."

"She has been at Mode longer than I have. She told me it was what she wanted when I first got hired."

"I know. She...well, she basically slept with me to get that job. But I want you to know, that's over. I can have her work for me and still NOT sleep with her. We worked together just fine recently. I think I've proven my days of sleeping with my assistants are over."

"You don't have to justify yourself to me, Daniel. In fact, I think Becks had a good idea when he said that stuff about you getting "back on the horse".

"You do? And you're okay with that?" his eyes widened in shock, then he grinned, "Betty, wait, um...you do realize he meant...with you?"

She stepped back, "Oh. Right! I...guess I thought he was talking metaphorically, like for you to get out there and start dating other women, get over Sofia and all that, you know?"

He chuckled, "How the hell do you 'metaphorically' have sex? Besides, I'm not out there, with any other women right now, am I? I'm with you."

The way he was looking into her eyes was making her more than a little nervous. She bit her bottom lip, and stepped away, "Okay. I...um...can we talk about the job?"

Daniel nodded, and straightened himself, knowing that he needed to rein in his libido and stop 'hitting on her', "Uh, sure. I was thinking, well, I figured, if I'm giving you a raise anyway, I might as well put you to work where you'll be really earning it.

You were always way more than just my 'assistant'. More like a partner. Honestly, I wish I could make you my co-editor, it's what you deserve, but unfortunately, I don't think my father would allow someone so young and inexperienced in that role. But I can definitely make you an associate editor for now, at least. Maybe you could take some writing classes and start submitting more articles."

She hugged him again, then looked at her hands on his chest and dropped them, seeming embarrassed and affected by the contact, "Oh my god, Daniel, you don't know what this means to me! To my family! You see, Hilda lost her job, too, so...it's been hard lately."

His eyes softened, "You mean to tell me, that even though your sister lost her income, you STILL quit your job at MYW and took some crappy waitress job just because you felt bad for me? Betty, that was...so above and beyond, thank you! Now, I don't know what to say!" he hugged her warmly, then held her out from him, "Would it help if I hired Hilda temporarily to help out with Fashion Week?

We could always use people to organize things, prep the models, assist the designers, set things up, whatever she can do. Didn't you tell me she's pretty good with hair and makeup? Maybe she can help out there."

"I don't know, Daniel. I mean, I appreciate the offer and my family could definitely use the income, but honestly, I'm not sure I want to work with my sister."

He laughed, "Why not? You could boss her around. You like that, Bossy Betty!"

She shoved him, "Stop it! She calls me that."

"Yeah, for good reason. You are pretty bossy. But...in a cute way, of course." he teased.

As they chatted amiably about work and upcoming Fashion Week, Daniel felt comfortable again, like he could act normal around her without wanting to pounce on her. He definitely wasn't sorry he kissed her, but it would complicate things if she went back to being his assistant, so perhaps putting her in a role where she could feel more appreciated, and where they wouldn't be in quite as close quarters, on top of each other all the time would be best right now. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.

"I'll think about it with Hilda and let you know. She needs a job. And it's sweet of you to offer."

"Hey, Betty, it's no big deal. Like I said, we're going to need a lot of help next week, so it might as well help your family, too. We need all hands on deck. Believe me, you have no idea how crazy things get during Fashion Week!

I'm excited about showing my father I can handle it, but if I didn't have you, I'd be really nervous! You give me the confidence to feel like I CAN beat Wilhelmina."

"Of course you can, Daniel. I believe in you. And by the way, I had fun on our date. I'm so happy you decided to come out tonight. I'm very glad you're feeling a little better now."

"That's your fault, you know. You always make me feel better, no matter what crazy thing is going on in my life." he took her hand, leading her to the town car and helping her in, "I'll drop you off. I guess...we'll be back to 'normal' Monday, huh? But...you know, if you change your mind and decide you want to stretch our date out, maybe hang out over the weekend, while I'm still not officially your boss again yet, call me."

She blushed, "Thanks. I'll have to think about that, too."

He smirked, leaning close to her and winking, "Chicken!"

"You'd better believe I am! I can only imagine the press we'd get, I'D get! Ugly assistant tries to play Cinderella and poor Daniel Meade is so heartbroken over his fiance dumping him that he agrees to go out with her!"

"Are you really that insecure, Betty? Or that blind? For God's sake, now who's being shallow, huh? First of all, I've told you a million times, you ARE NOT ugly! You never were, and never will be, okay?

I'll cop to the fact that you have bad taste in clothes, but hey, you happen to work at a fashion magazine and have access to a brilliant designer who is your best friend and can design custom made clothes for you like this cute, yet sexy number you've been teasing me with all night.

You are also even better best friends with a super hot editor-in-chief of that fashion magazine and he's pretty rich and can help you with some of your financial problems including Invisaligns IF you'd stop being too damn proud to ever ask him for help, not to mention helping boost your career. I know I can be self-involved at times, Betty, but you've also got to stop being too stubborn to let anyone help you!

Besides braces, glasses which are hot anyway, even when you don't wear contacts, the hair I assume your sister can help with, or hell we have professional makeup artists at Mode for that matter! All the things you see as making you 'ugly' are very temporary, they're only minor blips that can be solved pretty easily, especially for someone with your resources.

Hell, I know she's been mean to you and she might be an annoying little pain in the ass sometimes, but I've heard Amanda offer to help you with your style and I'll talk to her about how rude she is, but she is actually pretty good at styling people.

You are one of the most resourceful women I've ever met when it comes to your career. Use that and turn it to your look and you'll see, you've always BEEN beautiful, you've just got to stop hiding it! Then nobody in the press would dare say a damn word!"

She fought a tear, nodding, "I know all that, Daniel. Believe me, I've thought about it. I know I let Wilhelmina get to me that time I stupidly let Hilda do my "Queens Makeover". And you're right about...well, everything you just said about me. I am afraid to change, afraid to look 'too pretty' if that makes sense.

I actually see myself as more of my mom's favorite movie, Pretty Woman."

He raised an eyebrow, "You see yourself as a hooker? No wonder you never want me to help you with money! I promise, I only offered as a friend, Betty! I wasn't trying to...sleep with you! I mean...well..." he actually looked embarrassed.

She smiled, "I know you weren't. It's not that! No, it's just...well, look at Sofia. She is a very beautiful woman who uses her looks to trick and manipulate people. I would never want to do that!"

"You wouldn't! You think just because you dress up a little, wear heels that hurt your feet and show people you aren't 'twelve', that you're a grown woman you're suddenly going to turn to the dark side or something? You're still you. It's like when I wear an expensive suit. I don't think it makes me any smarter or better than anyone else in the meeting. But it gives me confidence if I feel put together, you know?

Clothes don't make the man but they sure as hell don't hurt, either! Thank God, or neither of us would have a job! Surely Christina has tried to tell you how much clothes can make you feel better. Hell, would you have gone out with me tonight if I was still wearing my stinky robe?"

She giggled, shaking her head, "NO! Definitely not! You need to throw that away!"

He laughed, "I will, I promise. Next time I wallow in self pity, I'll do it naked."


	5. Chapter 5

**More Than Another Pretty Woman/CH 5**

_This chapter is mostly Suarez family fun (with Daniel thrown in the mix!) Hope you enjoy and all have a beautiful Easter Sunday tomorrow! I'm out looking for a new apartment now (trying to find something closer to Waikiki and the beach and with more privacy and a better kitchen and light. I'm tired of being in a "basement" apartment in Hawai'i!) But I have started working on the next part, which is back to a lot more Detty back at Mode. _

Betty entered her home, sniffing, "What's that smell? Is something on fire? Hilda? What are you doing up so early?"

Her older sister rushed to the oven, "I never went to bed. Crap! The cupcakes! I'm such a failure! I can't even bake a batch of freaking cupcakes!" She moaned, opening the oven to reveal a batch of burnt cupcakes and smoke pouring out, causing the smoke alarm to start buzzing.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"I'm trying to...what are you all dressed up for? And where's your shoes? And your coat? You got a makeover? Wait, are you seriously just now getting home? Where have you been all night?"

"Are you done with twenty questions? Here, there's some of the batter left. We can make another batch. You've really been up all night, too?"

"Too? Just, leave it, Betty. Forget it! I give up! What was I thinking? I've got no employable skills!" Both sisters were practically yelling over the sound of the alarm.

Betty managed to wave much of the smoke away with the broom and the alarm stopped temporarily. She watched her sister, sitting down, obviously ready to give up, "Hilda, you'll be better than ever. You'll see. This is just a transition you needed to go through. You weren't meant to sell Herba-Luxe all your life. You were meant to do so much more!"

Hilda's eyes widened as she noticed the large canary diamond on Betty's finger, and she rose, grabbing it, "What the hell? Are you engaged, now? What, did Walter rob a fancy jewelry store? There's no way he got this from Pro-Buy!"

Betty grabbed her hand away, pulling at the ring, "No! This isn't from Walter! I told you before, that's over! He's got to accept that sooner or later. Actually, this belongs to Daniel." She laughed, "We crashed a wedding tonight and sang karaoke, we were out on the Brooklyn Bridge, too. Well, first we were at a fancy French restaraun…"

"DANIEL?! Daniel Meade? BETTY! What the hell? You mean to tell me you were out on a date...all night with your boss? An all night date? Are you insane? And now you're wearing HIS ring? A ring that obviously costs more than our house? Did YOU steal this from that...Sofia Reyes that dumped him? This isn't the same one she gave back to him, is it?"

"Of course I didn't steal it. Amanda did, then it was stuck on her finger, but then she got it off, and well, Daniel put it on me for the wedding reception. Just as a joke. But it wasn't a DATE! It was...a business dinner...thing. Well, okay, maybe it was...kind of a date, I guess. That sort of ended in a kiss! Maybe two...or a...few more, actually, but that's all!"

"Amanda? Good grief, how many women are wearing his engagement rings? Is he just running around, proposing to a bunch of women in New York and seeing which one of you doesn't throw it back in his face?"

Justin stirred from the living room couch where he had fallen asleep earlier, "Ring? Kisses? Whoa, you look awesome, AB...ooh! Nice! That's a Tiffany Soleste Cushion-Cut Double Halo with a Canary Diamond, two-point five carats, right?"

"Three, actually. But, wow, you really know your jewelry, Justin. Here, you left your shoes in the car, when you ran inside, Cinderella. Is something on fire? I smelt smoke. Oh, hi, Hilda. Aren't you up a little early? Or is it late for you, too?"

"Daniel! Wait, did you really propose to AB? Are you and Aunt Betty engaged now? OhmyGod!"

"NO! Justin, we are NOT...anything, okay? This is just a prank! But it got stuck on my finger and now I can't get it off!" Betty held out her hand in defeat to Justin, who simply admired the ring, "WOW! Good taste, Daniel! Or should I call you Uncle Daniel?"

"What is going on down here? I'm trying to get some sleep! Oh, no! Hilda! Are you trying to burn the house down, mi amore? Just give it up, please!" Ignacio came shuffling downstairs, looking slightly panicked, but extremely tired, as the smoke alarm started going off from the smoke, which Betty and Hilda were waving pans frantically to try and stop from filling the whole kitchen.

Daniel helped them by hitting the alarm with a broom, then finally knocking it down to stop the annoying noise, as Hilda threw the offending cupcakes in the sink.

Betty blushed at her crazy family assuming they were really engaged and Daniel laughed, slipping his arm around Betty's waist, as he handed her shoes back to her, and kissed her cheek, "I'd say that might be rushing things a little, Justin! It was our first date, after all, but...we'll see.

Maybe if you play your cards right, Betty! Hell, we've already known each other way longer than sixty days, so...I could be proposing any day, right?

Oh, hey, Hilda, we could really use your help for Fashion Week! Right, Betty? But...just remember, Betty's the boss!" He winked as he waved to Justin, and began to leave.

Ignacio's eyes widened, as he spotted Betty's hand. He put out his hand on Daniel's arm to stop him from leaving and pointed to the ring, "Excuse me, MR. MEADE, but what is THAT? You proposed to my mijah without asking my permission?

I don't know how you do it in your family and you might be well off, but I'm afraid that is not how we do things! It's disrespectful! It's one thing to sweep a girl off her feet, but to think you're going to marry her right after you were humiliated by that Reyes woman?

I don't believe either of you has thought this through and I won't have my Betty treated like a rebound engagement to soothe your precious ego! Mijah, I insist you give that ring back to Daniel! He's your boss, he's ten years older than you and don't you already have a boyfriend? You look lovely, with or without your glasses, but..."

Daniel seemed rather amused and somewhat happy that everyone in Betty's family assumed he had really proposed to her.

But Betty was getting more and more embarrassed by her family and annoyed with their meddling. She stood, her hands on her hips and found her safety whistle, blowing it, as she held up her hand, "OKAY, STOP! Everyone. First of all, let's get out of this kitchen until the smoke clears.

Justin, please prop open the kitchen door a crack and Daniel, would you open that window, and Hilda, you can turn the fan to blow the rest of the smoke outside. Then we will sit down at the dining room and talk about this!" She held up the ring and rolled her eyes.

Everyone did as Betty instructed them and sat down, one by one at the dining room table and waited. She put her hands on the back of the chair at the head of the table, and looked around at everyone, squaring herself.

"Okay, first of all, papi, I told you before, Walter cheated on me and no matter what Hilda says, as far as I'm concerned, he and I are done. But no, Daniel and I are NOT really engaged, okay? THIS was just a joke! We crashed someone else's wedding reception for fun tonight and pretended to be married. He had this ring with him because he got it back from...well, whatever, and anyway he put it on my finger but … then I couldn't get it off! It's stuck!" she held it up, tears forming as she became more frustrated.

This explanation effectively calmed Ignacio down. He offered, "Try grease. It will slip right off. Here, I'll show you. Sit down, mijah." Her father rose and went to the kitchen, and came back with a bowl full of ice cubes, and a can of Crisco. He set both on the table, took Betty's finger and rubbed it with the grease, and managed to get the ring off, then soaked her swollen finger in the ice cubes, cleaning off the ring and handing it back to Daniel.

"Wow! That was cool! Thank you, sir. Sorry about the...uh… misunderstanding before with this stupid ring! We were just goofing around, having fun, stealing some cake. I would never disrespect you and...do something like that without first asking your permission, I promise, sir!

Betty means...far too much to me! I...she...we….um...look, I know my name is a laughing stock. No woman on the planet would even want to marry me right now! I don't blame you for not wanting her...associating with a guy like me! Sofia saw to that! Betty was only trying to being my friend and get me out. She came and found me hiding out at my place and tried to cheer me up by getting me up and out of my depression."

"You weren't ever in Rio?"

"No, Justin! I...never really went...anywhere. I was wallowing in self-pity at my place. Betty came and found me and felt sorry for me. She cleaned up my place and got me out of my stinky robe and dressed and took me out. Wait, I mean...well, SHE didn't take off my robe, I did, of course, by myself...in the other room, then I showered myself and shaved while she cleaned up. But when my crazy buddy Becks and Amanda showed up and wanted to make it a foursome, I mean, um...double date! Not sex, of course!

Anyway, I told Becks I only wanted to go out with Betty, to dinner. Okay, this isn't coming out right!" Something about Betty's father thinking he might be taking advantage of his youngest daughter and her whole family looking at him with concern made Daniel nervous and trip over his words.

Ignacio smiled, and patted Daniel on the back, "Relax, mijo! I know you would never do anything to hurt Betty! If so, I'd have to kill you!"

Hilda jumped in, "Yeah, and we know people who could do that, too, Gringo! Just kidding, Daniel! Hey, papi, Daniel said he had a job for me helping out at Mode!" She laughed, "He even was pretending Betty would be MY boss! Can you imagine?"

Betty made a face, "He wasn't kidding about that part, Hilda! I WOULD be your boss, so…" Hilda stood up, shaking her head and walked away, holding up her hand, dismissively to Betty, "Yeah, right! LIke THAT'S ever going to happen! I don't THINK so, Mami! You are not the boss of me, Bossy Betty! But thanks for the opportunity, Daniel."

"Of course, Hilda. It's the least I could do after Betty quit her job at MYW to show her loyalty to me. I'm sorry about that. I feel terrible that my mess of a personal life has impacted your whole family."

"So you're going back to Mode, right, AB?" Justin asked hopefully.

Betty smiled and nodded, "Mmhmmm...we've got to get ready for Fashion Week. Actually, Daniel also gave me a raise and a promotion. To Associate Editor!"

Daniel felt somewhat guilty, knowing that this was a "promotion" mainly in name only. Associate editor didn't carry nearly as much weight as even Junior features editor. But it sounded better than assistant and he knew his father wouldn't care if he rewarded Betty for her loyalty to him by giving her a small raise and bumping her up to "associate editor".

"Yeah, after we get through Fashion Week, I'm going to see if I can Betty into a writing class or two, then the YETI program, and I'll help her get some articles published at some of our other magazines, including Mode. I know fashion isn't her preferred part of publishing, but...well, it's where the money is for now, anyway.

I'd like to help her see her dreams come true, though. I really believe she's going to go far in this industry! My mother has been talking about wanting to start up her own magazine, and she loves Betty, so maybe they can work something out at some point."

"Did your father fire that be-otch Sofia at least after what she did to you?"

"No, Hilda. He offered, but I told him it would give Meade Publications a lot of publicity. I figured, the damage is already done now. I can take one for the team if it helps sell magazines. Even hers. After her next issue of her damn magazine no doubt tanks, though, because she can't keep pulling stunts like that, and she's clearly got nothing to offer on her own, he said I get the pleasure of giving her the boot!"

"You should let your dad go ahead and fire the witch now but keep the magazine. Let AB take over and turn it into something more legit, less tabloid! She could do it. Oh, and by the way, Mom, if you and Aunt Betty are BOTH going to be at Fashion Week, I expect you to write me a note from school.

There is NO WAY I'm missing the opening shows! Christina just texted me and said she got in as one of the Top Ten new designers to watch this year! And my friend Marc said he might have a job for me there helping Wilhelmina with something. He said she had some terrible accident and he's busy with something else and really needs my help. He's paying me, too he said. Not that I wouldn't do it for free. So anyway, I'm GOING!"

"What, no need for a chef at this Fashion Week thing? The rest of my family all seems to be going!"

Daniel glanced at Betty, who looked overwhelmed at her family's piling on. He grinned and got up, pulling her along, after nodding at her father, "I'll see what I can do, Mr. Suarez. We might need some caterers. Can I...please borrow your daughter for one more sec? I promise, I won't propose to her!"


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Alexis Meade slammed down the phone, obviously completely furious as she turned to Wilhelmina, "Oh my God! What the HELL are we paying that idiot for anyway? He just said the police jumped the gun and went over to arrest my father at his house!"

"Well, it's not ideal, it would have been much more effective to have it at the Fashion Show of course, but the end result is the same. So, we don't get quite the same amount of publicity we would have initially? Who cares? The main thing is; Bradford goes to jail, and we push pasty boy out and take over Meade."

"Pasty boy? That's what you're calling Danny? Whatever, Wilhelmina. I want to see his face when the everything goes to shit for him at Fashion Week. I'm going to go to that show and watch it fall apart. Especially once the news about the arrest of the "great Bradford Meade" is out! Danny can't seriously think he's capable of handling the company! Dad groomed ME to take over. Does he honestly think he can run anything? He can't even beat me, running a race against me! He always holds back! He's got no killer instinct!"

"Yes, yes, of course. You're the eldest, it's your birthright and all that! Although I would suggest if you're planning on doing any actual running for some idiotic reason, you may want to re-think those heels! I would never admit it, but it is somewhat difficult to navigate quickly in them. Give yourself time. The hair, wardrobe and makeup are excellent. But you might want to work on your walk."

"Yeah, how the hell do you ever get used to these things?" she struggled a bit as she practiced walking in front of a full-length mirror.

"That accident really did you justice, Alex Meade!" Wilhelmina smiled, staring at her new co-conspirator admiringly.

"It's Alexis, now. Alexis Meade!"

Daniel pulled Betty away from the chaos of her family, as they tried to clean up the mess Hilda had made with her cupcake fiasco. He sighed, "Well, that was fun! Your family is a real trip, Betty! I wish mine was that much fun to hang out with. Mine is...well, I love my mom, but…you know how they are. Always so much drama! I really miss Alex! He was crazy and...could be kind of mean and bossy sometimes, but…"

Betty rolled her eyes, glancing back inside, "Yeah, like MY sister! Did you hear that? She's not going to listen to me at all! Oh, I'm sorry, Daniel! You were talking about how much you miss your brother. I didn't mean to make this about me and Hilda." she put her hand on his, then up to his cheek, "Do you want...somebody to go with you to visit Alex's grave Sunday?"

He nodded, smiling as he took her hand from his cheek and kissed her palm, then patted it, "Yeah, that would be nice, thanks, Betty. Um...in the meantime….that still gives us tonight to do something together before we have to go back to work Monday and back to strictly business, no more...Detty!"

She smiled, "Sh! You'd better not say that around Justin, he'll get T-shirt's made for us!"

He laughed, "That doesn't sound so bad. But, I guess we should both probably get a little sleep first after our all night DATE! Damn! Your dad really had me going there at first with that 'he'd have to kill me' stuff! My heart was pounding!"

Betty narrowed her eyes, trying to look serious, "Well...papi does act really mysterious sometimes about why he and mami left Mexico so suddenly and never went back! And Hilda used to date a guy who they say has ties to the mob! He stole our baby Jesus! I mean...it was actually a Cabbage Patch doll, but…"

"You're messing with me, right?"

She laughed, shoving him, "Yes, silly! Of course! My dad is pretty harmless. You should see him in his apron! That was sweet of you to offer him a catering job, Daniel. You don't have to do that, you know. Now who's trying to "fix everything"?"

He smiled, shrugging, "I guess you're starting to rub off on me. It's contagious, all the times you've gone way above and beyond for me. I'll still never forget that time you said you went through Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for me, just to help me pick out a stupid shirt for….HER!

Then after you got done yelling at me, you proceeded to tell me what a catch I was! I'll never forget that. That was...pretty awesome to hear!" he stepped closer to her, and put his hands on her arms, looking into her eyes, "You're pretty awesome."

Betty felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest it was going so fast. She bit her bottom lip and Daniel picked up her chin, tipping her face towards him, and closed the distance between them, blending their lips together in a fiery kiss. He dropped one hand and slid it around her back. They both could feel the intensity between them almost immediately things got extremely heated.

She reached up to place her hand on his chest, checking to see if his heart was racing like hers was. He pulled away, taking her hand in his and blowing out a breath, "You're...that was...okay, we really need to stop, Betty! Cause that was...uh, you're sort of making me crazy here! I definitely don't want to stop, believe me, but we ARE on your front porch and if we keep on kissing like that, I'm going to eventually turn into Bad Daniel. And trust me, you wouldn't like him!"

She giggled, "BAD Daniel? I wouldn't like him? What are you; the Hulk? Do you mean the Daniel that...never mind. Yeah, I remember, believe me. But I know that's not you anymore."

"What, the manwhore? The guy with a sex addiction? Hopefully, that guy is gone! I thought I had said goodbye to my 'Hulk' and was back to being nice guy Daniel. I'm really trying here. Normally, whenever we're just talking and working together, I'm fine. But...well, the kissing...is...driving me crazy! Has anybody told you how sexy your lips are, Betty?"

"My lips? I don't think so. You really think so?"

He nodded, getting mesmerized as he stared into her eyes, and ran his index finger across her bottom lip, "Oh yeah. They are. So soft, and full and pink and intense! You're seriously the best kisser I've ever…"

She cut him off suddenly, pulling him down to her level by his collar, and kissing him dramatically, running her hands through his hair.

Daniel was taken aback by her impulsive behavior, but responded enthusiastically, kissing her back passionately, pushing her against the side of the house, as she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He put his hands on her butt, holding her up better, as they both continued to enjoy their kissing for several minutes.

"Fine, Betty! I get it! You have a new boyfriend now. Do you really have to do that outside? Why don't you two get a room?!"

Betty pushed away for only a second as Daniel barely missed a beat, murmuring against her lips, "Who was that? That...Wilber guy?"

She nodded, "Mmhmm...close enough. Ignore him! He'll go away."

"No problemO!"

Walter did in fact, get tired of watching them kiss and left, muttering to himself.

After several minutes, Betty pushed away, gasping for air, "Um...I think your phone is buzzing! In your...pants."

He laughed, looking adorably mussed, since she had been running her hands all through his hair while they kissed.

He slowly helped her down, raising an eyebrow, "Thank you for not asking me if that was a phone in my pants or was I just happy to see you! By the way, damn, girl! You've got incredibly strong thighs! That was insane! You should...um...never mind! Sorry, I've got to take this. Hello? Mom? What's wrong? They what? When? SHIT! Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm in Queens. I'll see you. Love you, too."

"I'm afraid to ask. What's going on with your mother?"

"She said the police came to the house just now and arrested my father for Fey's accident. They told him they got some "anonymous evidence" that links him to her death and they charged him with murder!"

As he started to leave, she grabbed his hand, "Daniel, where do you think you're going? I'm coming with you!"

He nodded, smiling, "Thanks, Betty! I know I can always count on you to be here when I need you. Which is...all the time, apparently!"

She squeezed his hand as they got back inside his town car. Betty texted her sister and told her what had happened. She showed Daniel her sister's text, "Holy Shit! Mami, are you SURE you want to marry into that crazy family? So much drama!", then her reply, "Daniel needs me."

Daniel arrived at his family home and he and Betty found a distraught Claire, pacing and obviously drunk, as she talked to herself, "This is all a huge mistake! Your father couldn't have possibly killed Fey Sommers!"

"Hey, Mom. No, of course not! Dad's not warm and fuzzy, but...he's not a killer! I mean...it makes no sense! He had an affair with the woman for twenty years. Why the HELL would he want to kill her? It's not like she was blackmailing him or threatening to tell you. You already knew about her! Where's the motive?"

"Plus, your father just isn't someone who would commit murder, right?"

Daniel and Claire both looked at Betty then at each other, as if questioning that very notion themselves, and finally shook their heads, "NO! No, of course he wouldn't!"

Claire looked at the glass in front of her for a second before Daniel took it out of her hands, and set it down, "Mom! You need to be clear-headed! Please stop drinking! As soon as we get you sobered up, I'll take you to the police station, okay? Betty, can you maybe help my mother get changed while I make some calls to our family lawyers, please?"

"Sure, Daniel. Come on, Mrs. Meade. Let's get some coffee in you and I'll help you pick something out to wear.

"Oh, goody! We're back to babysitter status, are we? I'm not that drunk, Betty! Although having your husband hauled off to jail for murdering his mistress is certainly enough to drive a person to drink! I can dress myself, thank you!" The still very inebriated matriarch grabbed her drink back off the tray and took it with her to her bedroom, ahead of Betty. She didn't quite outmaneuver her escort, however. Betty stepped in front of Claire and as she opened the door for her, she grabbed the drink away and tried to hold it up, out of her reach. However, since Claire was taller, she saw that wasn't going to work, so Betty downed the drink herself quickly, then slammed the empty glass down on the dressing table, "Ew! That's really strong!"

"Yes, dear. That was sort of the point! NOT to have to deal with all this nightmare situation...unmedicated!" Claire took a deep breath and calmly laid out a clean dress and while she motioned for Betty to find some shoes for her in her closet, she held up a bottle of perfume and sprayed it on herself, closing her eyes and smiling.

"Here you go, Mrs. Meade. Here are the Laboutin's you asked for… Ooh! That smells wonderful! Can I have just a tiny spray?"

Daniel appeared in the doorway, with a goofy grin on his face, "It sure does!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Wow, Betty...you're so damn hot! I want to tear your clothes off and take you right here, right now! Sorry, Mom, but...how about I take you to the police station in about..an hour? Better make that two!"

Daniel rushed to Betty, who jumped up into his arms, wrapping her legs around him. "You're so sexy, Daniel! I want to jump you! You're like a huge purple, sexy tree with blue eyes!"

Claire laughed, raising her eyebrows at their odd behavior, "Well, you might want to take a shower first, Betty. You spilled half the bottle of my perfume on yourself just now when you bumped into me!"

"I know! I'm such a klutz! Sorry, Mrs...Claire!"

Claire looked concerned as she watched her son pulling down the sleeve of Betty's dress in front of her and kissing her shoulders and neck rather intimately, " Daniel Meade! I may be the one who's been drinking but...do you really expect me to wait until you defile this poor girl before we go help your poor father? Oh, who am I kidding? He's never going to stay in jail!"

"How do you know that, Mrs. Meade?"

"Call me Betty, Claire. I mean..call me Claire! I'm Claire." Claire chuckled, finding watching her son and Betty making out in front of her extremely amusing, if not slightly annoying as she patted Daniel's arm, gesturing to her bed as she left, "Have at it, you two! Have your fun. Your father won't get convicted of killing Fey Sommers! I gran agaraanteerrantee, oh hell, I promise it!"

"Why, because we have such good lawyers?" Daniel seemed only mildly interested in talking to Claire, as most of his attention was on kissing Betty and smiling at her cleavage and kissing her bare neck and shoulders which were exposed to him.

"No, because I know for a fact he didn't kill her!"

"Of course not, Claire! He's your hubby and you stand by your man!" Betty began to sing, "Stand by yer man! IF you can! I don't really know this song…."

Daniel laughed, "Aw, you're so cute! I don't know that song either. Yeah, mom, why do you know about Dad for sure? Was he with you that night?"

"No. But he couldn't have possibly killed her. Because I did it!"

Daniel dropped Betty to the floor, "WHAT? You killed Fey? Oops, I'm sorry, sweetie! Here!" He quickly helped Betty back up, and she brushed herself off and turned to join Daniel in questioning the matriarch, "Yeah, what? You can't be serious, Mrs. uh...Claire...you did what? Is this a joke?"

Claire appeared eerily calm as she seemed to suddenly remember, "NO! I can remember now; I killed Fey! I followed her car and watched it burn. And I didn't even try to help her. I hated that bitch! She took away my husband, she ruined my life! I wanted her dead!"

Daniel and Betty both stared in shock and disbelief at one another, then at Claire, "MOM! SH! Don't say that out loud, okay? Somebody might hear you!"

"So what? I'm going to the police right now and confess! I can't let your father go to prison for something I did!"

Betty and Daniel both grabbed her, then got distracted, kissing one another heatedly again, "Ooh, baby, you smell like...a kitten and a puppy made love!"

Betty giggled, "That doesn't make any sense! But it sounds cute!"

"Just like you! You're so adorable! I just want to eat you up!"

Betty smiled, then saw Claire and shook herself, "I want you too, you...look so hot! I want to lick you all over! Like an ice cream cone!" 

"PLEASE! You two! Focus! Murderess here remembering and regretting her crime. I definitely don't regret that that bitch is dead! But I know I have to face the consequences of my actions. I can't let Bradford rot for something he didn't do! I'm going to call for my car and turn myself in!"

"NO! You can't!" They both steeled themselves away from each other, visibly shaken and having a difficult time resisting their desire.

"Daniel, didn't you say your mom once was in rehab for practically a whole year? You can tell the police that she's so upset from your father's arrest, she hit the bottle again so you sent her off to rehab! It's believable!"

"About as believable as me going to South Dakota for rehab for nine months! That's really what your father told you?" Claire grabbed the half empty bottle of wine from the liquor cabinet and took it out, ready to put it up to her mouth, when Daniel grabbed it from her, "OH, hell, if you can't beat 'em join 'em! Here, Betty, you want some?"

"HEY! She already drank my other glass! Are you really trying to get the poor girl drunk? What is WRONG with you two anyway? You're acting like a couple of teenagers in heat! Betty, dear, really, you MUST shower off that perfume! It's...overwhelming….and Daniel, stop kissing it off of her. You're no doubt poisoning yourself with it….wait, Daniel, go stand in the other room. IF you can stop touching Betty for two seconds! GO!"

"MOM! I want her! I need my Betty! I have to have her...now! She...okay, FINE! I'll go to the guest room. I'm walking away...I...um...sorry, Betty."

The further away from Betty, he was able to finally clear his muddled thoughts a bit. He shook his head, holding his forehead, and moaning, "Oh...man! I...seriously don't know what came over me all of a sudden, I couldn't think straight! I can't believe I was...um groping you like that...in front of my MOTHER! How embarrassing! What the hell is wrong with me? I really must be a sex addict!"

Claire picked up the bottle of her perfume and examined it's contents suspiciously, "I don't know, but...off hand I'd say it has to do with this perfume. Betty, go wash off in my shower, now! Hurry, before my son has a relapse and starts pawing at you again!"

Betty obeyed, sighing, and staring after Daniel longingly as Claire continued to shove her into the bathroom, "But...I really want Daniel! He's so hot and he's wearing that purple shirt I love! It makes my eyes pop! I really want to take all his clothes off and…"

Claire stifled a laugh at the girl talking in that way and shoved Betty into the shower, turning it on, with Betty fully clothed, then closed the door, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes as she pushed her son away, "YOU! Go! You got some of that stuff on you, too! Use the shower in your old room and wash yourself.

Make sure and get rid of your clothes. I think that's why you are both acting like love starved idiots! Maybe this stuff is something your father gave Fey, too, and it has some kind of love potion in it, but it turned to hate when I saw her! All I know for sure is, it's obviously affecting you both!"

"What's Betty going to wear?"

"Don't worry yourself about that. I have something she can put on. You won't be seeing her naked, so get your mind out of the gutter, young man!"

"Okay, I'm going. But I think Betty might have had a good idea about taking you to Rio. No one will expect it because they all think I just came from there."

"NO! I don't want to hide!"

"Mom, I'm not taking no for an answer! I'm not losing my brother AND having both my parents in jail for killing that woman!"

Claire hugged Daniel, "Oh, darling! That's not going to happen, I promise!"

After a few minutes, Betty came out of the bedroom, wearing Claire's white terrycloth robe, her hair wet with a towel twisted in it, "How about if I take your mom with me to Rio?"

"But...I...okay! Fine, but only for the weekend! Till I talk to Dad's lawyer and give him that perfume. I'm not taking any chances that you won't be able to get exonerated, Mom!"

The doorbell rang and they all heard voices downstairs, "Hey, Danny boy! Where the hell are you, man? Oooh, Betty! Nice outfit! You needed a shower? Okay, I get it. No wonder he wanted you all to himself! Oh, sorry, Mrs. M! Good to see you again! How's it going?"

"Hello, Becks, dear. I'm fine, thank you. How is your mother?"

"She's good." Becks hugged Claire then took a deep breath and grabbed Betty, twirling her in the air, "Wow! You smell...intense! Very sexy, VERY sexy! Hey, how about you and me go somewhere...private, and really get to know each other, huh? Betty?" he held onto her and began kissing her, becoming more and more into it.

Daniel watched with growing anger, until he ran towards Becks, as soon as he put Betty down and tackled him to the floor, "HEY! She's MY Girl! Leave her alone, you dufus! What happened to Amanda? You can have her. Betty's Daniel's girl! Got it? I had her first!"

Amanda had followed Becks upstairs and watched with growing shock as Becks had began kissing Betty, then she pulled on his hand, "Excuse me? What the hell was that? You just spent all night, hitting on me and we...you know, tickle each other's gingers and now you show up and grab HER? I knew you were a player, but seriously, HER? Although, you do look good, Betty. What's missing? Oh, right, the braces!"

Betty shook her head, smiling and showing that she still had her braces, "No, my glasses. I'm wearing contacts."

Claire, pulled Betty back towards the bathroom, "And you clearly need to scrub again! You still smell like a perfume factory! Please get that stuff off!"

Amanda nodded, "OH, right! Well, and no clothes helps, I guess. Why are you wearing a robe? You and Daniel had sex...here? With his mom here? Gross! Hello, Mrs. Meade." she handed Claire a package, "Oh, the lady in The Closet at Mode with the weird accent said to give you this.

She said it was really important. I went to stea….um borrow a pair of shoes and belt and she was there, getting ready for the fashion show and said she found some sex room that Fey Sommers and your old ma….um...I mean...Daniel's dad used and she found this." she pulled out a diary from the package.

"She also said she was sorry, but Wilhelmina had her turn some package in to the cops that got him arrested. And there was some tall, blonde chick there. They were both acting really weird!"

"Yeah, since when do you have a sister, dude? She and that Wilhelmina bitch kept calling the blonde Alexis Meade! Let me up, will you?"

Daniel looked puzzled, as he pulled away from Becks, "I DON'T have a sister! AlexIS Meade? What the hell? Becks, you know I had a brother named Alex! You knew him. But he DIED, two years ago! What is going on?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't make sense! Let me see that stuff, please, Amanda." Daniel grabbed the package, first looking at the diary his mother held, looking stunned as she sat down on her bed.

Daniel frowned, "Hey, Betty! We'll be downstairs, sweetie! Hurry up as soon as you get that perfume scrubbed off, okay?"

"Sweetie? Okay...I'm sorry, dude! I really don't know what came over me! I was ready to...I've never wanted a woman like that before! I usually have some kind of...control or filter!"

Amanda smiled, "Not really!"

He grinned, "Well, of course, not with you, darlin! But Betty's my best friend's girl and I just...fought him over her!"

"Yeah, that was low, even for you, Becks!"

"I know! I don't understand it. I don't know what the hell came over me! I'm sorry, man!"

Daniel shook his head, handing Becks his hand to help him up, "It's all good! It's my mom's perfume! Betty spilled a bunch of it on her. And now, it's like...some kind of love potion or something! But hang on, from what I just read in this...this is Fey Sommers' diary! SHE is the one who had a guy in Switzerland make that stuff! And then she talked my old man into getting some for her.

And just like that damn jewelry box, he got one for his mistress and one for his wife! Anyway, she says the chemist who made it altered the formula for my mom. Apparently, Fey was trying to poison my mom by having Dad give her poison perfume! But now, my mother says…" Daniel led Becks and Amanda back downstairs while Claire was helping Betty make sure to get the rest of the perfume off her skin.

He looked around, lowering his voice, "Mom is claiming that she is the one who murdered Fey!"

Amanda was going through the package Christina had gathered from the sex dungeon, and pulled out an old picture of a baby, "Wait, this is...ME! What was Fey doing with my baby picture?" she turned it over, her eyes widening, "OhMYGOD! This says….Daniel, if Claire….did….your mom killed my mom! Fey was my mother!"


	8. Chapter 8

May. 6th, 2019 at 5:58 PM

**hawaiigal52**

_**CHAPTER EIGHT**_

_A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I've been on here, ladies! I've been busy moving up to the 11th floor of a 30 floor (I think that's right) building. I officially signed the lease on April 27th and moved in last week. Now I have a real bed (a Nectar)instead of an air mattress and my recliner and TV and I'm totally moved out of the basement. I love my huge windows; I can actually see the ocean (behind the city, but, who cares?). I saw a woman the other day on the elevator (there are 3 of them) push the button for the 28th floor and I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking her if she liked working at Mode! Lol!_

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Total chaos ensued at Mode following Bradford Meade's arrest for Fey's murder, and subsequent fatal heart attack while in prison, followed by the shocking appearance of "Alexis Meade", who claimed to be Alex Meade, returned from the dead and now a transgender woman!

Claire temporarily fell off the wagon with all the drama and Daniel was doing his best to hold onto his sanity, not to mention the coup he knew Wilhelmina Slater (and apparently his new "sister") were no doubt planning on making against him for control of his father's company.

In the meantime, Betty was trying her best to help her boss (and to ignore their insane behavior due to Claire's toxic perfume!) Every time she saw him, she lowered her head and made an excuse to leave. It was beyond embarrassing to think how sex-crazed they both had acted while under the influence of that toxin! She seriously wanted to crawl into a hole and hide, rather than have to face him and talk about it.

Finally, Daniel had had enough of her trying to avoid him. When she brought some paperwork in for him to sign, he looked up. "Um, Daniel, these are the press releases for Fashion Week. The tabloids are all wanting a statement from your family about...well, everything that happened. Do you...have a quote I can give them?"

He shrugged, shaking his head, and sighing in resignation, "I don't know, Betty! I don't really care. It's all...total bullshit! That...woman...who claims to be Alex...has obviously been callooding with Wilhelmina for...I don't know, YEARS! It's...insane! I have to plan my dad's…"

She crossed over to his desk, and stood behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about that, Daniel. It's all taken care of. There will be a tasteful graveside service, and I've asked any of the staff to speak if they knew your father well. I...have been trying to reach your mother. Do you know which hotel she's in and under what name?"

He didn't hesitate, "She's in the penthouse at the Four Seasons, I'm sure under the name Brandy Shalube. Here, she texted me something about needing some money. You can take her this."

He reached in to get a company credit card and pulled out one of the rings he had gotten when he had first thought about proposing to Sofia. He sighed, looking the box over carefully as he placed it on his desk.

"Oh, I almost forgot about...those! If you like, I can take them all back to Tiffany's for you and…" Betty picked up the bag and began checking to make certain all the rings were inside their boxes, including the canary diamond one she had given him back.

He gave her a crooked grin, "I know it's really Amanda's job, but...she's not been a very good assistant since I hired her back. She keeps telling me my mom murdered her mother and I can't get her to do much work for me. I'm not sure I trust giving her any of those rings to return for me, let alone all five of them!"

"You really bought...FIVE different rings for Sofia?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, well, I guess that's what happens when you stupidly propose to a woman you don't really know well enough to have any idea what kind of ring she might like, huh?"

Betty smiled, "I guess not. What's that one?"

He opened the box and showed her the ring, holding it out to her, "This one...I really liked the most. Honestly, I didn't buy this one for HER. It sort of...reminded me of you. Sweet, elegant, not too ostentatious, simply ...beautiful! Just like you."

He came around and sat next to her on the chaise, "Did you take those silly shoes back to Christina?"

"Uh huh."

"Good. So...um...listen, about the other night. The stuff we both said and...did...that was…"

She shook her head, "Crazy, right? I don't really remember it actually, but…"

He looked into her brown eyes, tipping up her chin as he brushed back a strand of hair and smiled, "I do. Everything. It was...pretty crazy alright! But...nice! It was probably a very good thing we had my mom as a chaperone! That stuff is extremely potent!"

"Extremely!" She nodded, letting out a breath, as he continued to hold her hand. She was totally flustered at his touch.

He smiled, seeing how much he clearly was affecting her, and dropped her hand, so he changed the subject, "Yeah, well, anyway, the family lawyers are saying that IF my mom DOES turn herself in, they're certain they can get her off on temporary insanity, especially since we have Fey's diary, confessing that she was trying to kill my mom and it backfired on her."

"Don't you think maybe you should go ahead and let your mother turn herself in, then?"

He shook his head, "No! I don't know! Maybe. But I'm just so worried, Betty. I mean, what if they're wrong? I don't want to lose my dad and my mom both!"

"You won't. And you have your brother back! I mean your sister. Whatever! Alex is back."

He rolled his eyes, "You mean 'Alexis'? Yeah, right! She won't even talk to me when I tried to find out where the hell she's been all this time and why she didn't tell us she was alive! She just keeps saying I'm just like Dad and he told her he'd rather see her dead than as a woman so she gave him his wish! I know that's what caused his final heart attack! I still can barely believe it's the same person! My family is so...insane! Do you think yours would adopt me?"

She laughed, "Well, sure. Probably. Especially Justin. He loves you! He keeps telling me I should have kept the ring!"

He raised his eyebrows, and nodded, "You know. He's right! You should have. Or actually, I have a better idea! Here. Let me do this right. I never got on one knee for the bitch, because...well, she honestly didn't deserve it. But you do. I respect you. I care about you. I need you. Honestly, I really do love you!"

He got down on one knee and slid the ring on her finger, and with his eyes glistening, he whispered, "Marry me, Betty? Let's leave here and...never come back! I don't need any of the damn money. Your family isn't rich but they're happy! I was born rich but I've been miserable my whole life until I met you! I don't care about the money!

Let Alex and Willie have it all! I just want you! That night...when we pretended to be newlyweds then hung out all night was the most fun I've ever had!

Look, I know you've been avoiding me ever since we...had that craziness with the perfume But not ALL the things I said then were because of that stuff, you know. I remember everything I told you. Do you?"

Betty's eyes widened, seeing that he seemed completely serious, "DANIEL! You're joking, right? Are you insane? There is no way we're...getting married! You just…"

He sighed, nodding, "Got dumped by Sofia? Yeah, yeah, I know that, believe me! So what? The problem was...I asked the wrong woman to marry me! I see now I never even loved her! I just...fell for her crazy tricks! I think...part of me wanted to make you jealous, as nuts as that sounds.

She was trying to "steal you" from me and although I actually felt happy for you that you were getting a job out of Mode, I missed you like crazy! I know she made you feel better about yourself at first, until you found out she was just using you a little maybe to get my trust."

She looked down at the beautiful ring, then took it off and put it back in the box and smiled, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, "Thank you, Daniel. This is beautiful. I know you're not really serious about...the proposing part.

You're just freaking out about all the drama going on right now and you want to run away. I'm flattered that you care enough to want to take me with you. But I think we both know we can't really do that to everyone else. Your mother is counting on you to help her through this.

But I missed you, too. I have to admit, when I first THOUGHT the job at MYW was real, and the people there were more "normal", I was happy to be someplace that I felt like I fit better. But they all turned out to be more phony than the people here at Mode. Just in a different way, apparently. And without you, I never felt really at home there."

He grinned, kissing her hand, "Yeah, it's great to have you back where you belong. Fine, be that way, don't marry me! At least you didn't throw it in my face in public! We're still best friends, though, right?"

She smiled, nodding, "Always!" she reached up and started to give him a high five, but he misread her signal and started to kiss her and accidentally got slapped.

"Ohmygod! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She quickly pulled him close for a hug.

He squeezed her and patted her back, then held her out by her arms, "It's fine. You and I do make a pretty good team, don't we, Betty?" He put his hand on his cheek, and winced, "Sorry about the...uh...you know, kiss. Are we good?"

She nodded, smiling, "We're good!" she held up both thumbs and took the bag of rings with her to return, then go check on Mrs. Meade.


	9. Chapter 9

Betty stopped in her tracks, trying to process what she was seeing. The woman who she had once idolized, and now despised, smiling at her, and pulling her into a half-hearted, phony hug and air kiss on each cheek, "Bet-ty! It's so good to see you! Imagine running into you here! It's been too long! I really hope we can let bygones be bygones and be friends again at some point.

After all, I DID believe in you before anyone else. I hear your precious Daniel finally made you an "Associate Editor"! It's about time he recognized your talent! After all, you're the one who's been doing all his work while HE gets all the credit!"

"What do you want, Sofia? You are NOT invited to Mr. Meade's funeral service! Daniel doesn't need you there, upsetting him when he is burying his father today. Try to at least pretend you have a soul and stay away!"

Sofia raised her eyebrow in respect, and laughed, "Ooh, look at you! Growing claws when it comes to defending your….man?! Hmm...I wonder, could it be the ugly duckling has developed a little crush on her handsome boss? Look, you're blushing! I must have hit a nerve! I saw those photos of you two, out on the town when he was supposedly still 'getting over me'!

That was YOU, wasn't it? ! Even though you managed to hide your face pretty well after you two left the restaurant. You know he checks out your ass when you file things all the time. I even called him out on it once. He denied it of course. And if you EVER decide to take advantage of your breasts like you should, well, you'd have quite the advantage. Daniel is definitely a breast man!"

"Shut up! Just...stop it! I don't need 'dating advice' from you, Sofia! I'm nothing like you. I finally see how you really are. You said Daniel was some 'manwhore' that used women like playthings. And maybe you were right about how he used to be. He's done that in the past, I'll admit. I've seen it, believe me. He was selfish and thoughtless and hurt women without meaning to, all true.

But he would NEVER in a million years do what you did! Deliberately set out to trick someone into falling for him just so he could get cheap publicity, and not bat an eye over how much he hurt them? That's just...evil!"

"You think I'm evil?"

"Yes, I do!"

"Well, tell me then, why didn't his father fire me unless he thought Daniel deserved what I did?"

"He wanted to. The only reason Mr. Meade didn't fire you was because Daniel himself told his father not to! He said it would sell magazines and he would "take one for the team" if it helped his father's company. You know, I almost feel sorry for you."

"Why is that?"

Betty walked up to the older woman and glared at her, "Because Daniel's completely over you. Yes, maybe you hurt him with your lies and treachery for a while, but you're nothing but a bad memory for him now. He'll move on and be fine and forget all about you. But after what you did to him, even if YOU can look in the mirror, think about it; what sane man would EVER trust you with his heart again? You doomed yourself to a lonely existence! I hope you can live with what you've done and enjoy your empty heart and career!"

Betty started to leave, but Sofia called out, grabbing her arm, "Betty, wait! I need to tell you something. I feel I owe you this much. I do feel badly for what I did. Not only to Daniel, but perhaps even more to you. I used your ambition and your adulation for me to my advantage so I could…"

'Get Daniel's trust? Yeah, no kidding! I see that now. I figured it out the minute I saw you with that "Hunter" guy, paying him off."

"Look, Bet-ty. I don't expect you to forgive me. Or to understand what I did to Daniel or to you. But the reason I did it was to help change him. For you. He needed to be taught a lesson. And unfortunately, you're too nice a person to do what I did to him. Now...if you're smart, and I know you are, you'll pick up the pieces and make him into the kind of man I think we both know he really can be.

Daniel has a good, kind heart. In spite of his terrible habits. Which is partially why I was able to fool him so easily. I may be too jaded and too much of a sexaholic and far too ambitious to benefit from his good qualities. But that doesn't mean I wasn't tempted to call the whole thing off. He's got that whole, sexy, little boy thing going on. I admit, he's amazing in bed! But the only person I've seen him grow up and truly be the manly, overprotective alpha male with is you. He lights up when you walk into a room and he bristles when another man looks at you. So…"

Betty let out a breath, shaking her head as she turned and pressed the elevator button several times, "Thanks so much for your unsolicited and unwanted advice! But if you think you can continue to "butter me up" or whatever this is to get me to…"

"To what, Betty? I know we will probably never see each other again. I also know now that Bradford is dead, I definitely have no place here. I have nothing to gain from deceiving you anymore. I'm sorry I had to use you. You're...well, looking at you is like looking at myself when I was still young and naive. I just hope...you can continue to be smart without having it corrupt you. Good luck! It was my pleasure meeting you."

Betty didn't answer. Her mother had taught her not to say anything if you can't say something good. And in spite of Sofia's compliments and half-ass apology, Betty had nothing positive to say to the woman in return after the way she had treated her Daniel. Her friend. Her...boss. Okay, she really needed to get their relationship a little clearer in her head. What was Daniel to her? He wasn't HER Daniel. He certainly wasn't her boyfriend!

Just because they had spent one night, flirting and kissing and pretending they were a couple didn't mean anything. Well, and then...the crazy stuff with that poison perfume happened! Still, that wasn't real. It wasn't really them. They were both extremely didn't count.

Now the impulsive, impromptu proposal….was perhaps a _little_ harder to explain away! But she could tell herself it was brought on by all the stress Daniel was under, with his grief in losing his father in his arms, worrying about his mother, wanting to turn herself in for Faye's murder, not to mention all the insanity over his dead-brother-turned-sister, obviously conspiring with the enemy! It was enough to want anyone to run away!

She shook off her encounter with the evil bitch and went to find Christina in The Closet, and change into a black dress for Mr. Meade's funeral service. If Wilhelmina showed up and Claire had been drinking again, Betty feared Daniel's mother would make that two murders! Claire had made it quite clear that she blamed Ms. Slater for poisoning Alexis' mind against her own family and especially Daniel. She had told Betty and Daniel just what she planned to do to the "wicked witch of the Upper East Side", specifically where she planned to stick "her broom" if she dared showed up at her husband's memorial.

As Christina and Betty walked to the graveside, they spotted Daniel, sitting quietly next to his mother, comforting her. Surprisingly, the tall blonde woman Betty recognized as Alexis Meade sat on the other side of Claire, also patting her hand, then placing her arm around her mother. Betty smiled, glad to see that their shared sorrow seemed to be bringing the small, troubled family together, at least in their grief.

Betty's eyes locked with Daniel's as she walked closer and she immediately read his silent plea for help. She knew that look. He was too upset and overcome to want to deal with the reality of having to eulogize a man who had been so hard and demanding on him.

She smiled and gave him a nod and saw his jaw relax as he squeezed his mother's hand, seeing that Betty was going to start things off so he didn't have to right now. She went up to the podium and glanced around the crowd. There was plenty of men she recognized as Bradford Meade's colleagues, rivals and outright enemies, along with a fairly large amount of employees. Staff members who either admired, feared (or both) the Mogul and for their own various reasons had chosen to come pay their respects to the man who had signed their paychecks.

Betty took a deep breath, looking at Christina and several of the people from Mode who she knew, anywhere but at Daniel, Claire and Alexis. Because if she looked in their eyes she would see the pain she knew all too well from her mother's funeral. It was still far too fresh and raw for her. She couldn't bear to look at their expressions as she spoke, clearing her throat, "Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Betty Suarez. I work at Mode magazine. On behalf of the Meade family, I'd like to thank you all for coming today to pay our respects to Bradford Meade.

Mr. Meade hired me. He had never met me before. But he listened to me and saw past my obvious faults and chose me to come work at a fashion magazine. He had the forethought to see that I was worth more than yet another pretty woman to help his son run Mode. He made people realize their own worth, and sometimes he made them feel small, and made them work really hard to earn his respect. But maybe that was just because he worked so hard himself. He never asked others to work harder than he did.

He was always the first one here and the last one to leave. He worked harder than anyone to put his name on that building. A legacy he built for his family. It was his way to show them he loved them. After working so hard for so long, he's earned the right to rest. Most of us either admired, respected, or perhaps were afraid of Mr. Meade. He didn't always know us all by name. For some of us, he was just the guy who signed our paychecks.

But to Claire, Alexis and Daniel, he was so much more. To them, Bradford was a husband and a father. And we truly offer our sympathy and love to them today and our pledge to help in any way we can to ease your pain and help you carry on his legacy….amen."

Daniel smiled sadly, clearly touched and grateful to Betty and tried to say a few words of thanks for the employees and friends and colleagues that had attended, before becoming overwhelmed. Alexis was too guilty and upset to talk, apparently having become convinced that she had indeed caused her father's fatal heart attack with her ill-timed plan to have him jailed for Faye's murder and conspire with Wilhelmina to take Mode (and all of Meade Publications) away from Daniel out of spite and jealousy.

Claire had talked sense into both her children, although drunk, she had insisted they sit down and shut up for once, and told them bluntly that they were both being stupid and childish and needed to grow up, since she needed them to help her and to take over the family business now that their father was gone.

Once Alexis found out the plot Faye had to kill her mother, she told Wilhelmina in no uncertain terms she was siding with her family and that there would be no "kicking Daniel out" after all. Claire had convinced her eldest daughter to at try and "share" with her little brother.

After all, she reminded them, there was plenty to go around. It wasn't as if their father had left them nothing. Quite the contrary, they both could run whatever magazines they wanted. (or none, in fact.) She just wanted one thing. To see Wilhelmina on unemployment for keeping Alexis from revealing that she hadn't died.

For his part, Daniel was trying to keep the peace, and hold his tongue, at least until after they had buried his father. He knew Claire was holding it together with a thread, and he was terrified she intended to make some graveside confession, or call the press to reveal she had indeed been the one to kill Faye to clear her dead husband's good name.

As they left, Claire spied Wilhelmina, quietly standing in the back and her face softened slightly as she shook her head, "Willy, I warned you to stay away! You have no right to be here! Your little plans to ruin my family and use Alexis as your damn puppet so you could have your precious job position at Mode are just as dead as my Bradford! You can forget about EVER realizing that little dream!

In fact, You can just...go straight to HELL, you evil bitch!" Claire forcefully shoved the diva into an open grave she had the misfortune of standing too closely to, much to the shock and delight of onlookers and press alike.

As they hurried away, ducking into a waiting limo, Alexis turned to look at her mother, brother and his new little girl friend and they all burst into uncontrollable laughter. The elder Meade heiress placed her hand on her mother's, "Oh my God, Mom! That was...hysterical! I missed you so much! I can't believe I ever let that woman convince me…"

Claire patted her daughter's cheek, shaking her head, "It doesn't matter now. Nothing matters except that we're all together, finally. Your father may have had his faults, God knows. But I know he'd be happy we had found each other. I know he hurt you, dear, but…"

"It's done, Mom. I shouldn't have...well, I can't change the past. I did what I did. All I can do is say I'm sorry to you both for not having more faith in my family and we'll do whatever it takes to keep the Meade name on that building. Danny...does that include Betty? Are you two...together? I sure never saw you act so goofy around a woman before like you did at the Fashion show last week! And that perfume..."

Daniel rolled his eyes, trying to look away, "Shut up! Don't start! Look, I agreed I'd go along with this whole...sharing stuff if you'd stop acting like you're the boss of everything. Dad is gone. That means I'm the man of the family now that you gave away the family jewels!"

"Haha! Very funny, squirt! My balls are still bigger than yours, dumbass!"

"Excuse me! Both of you, knock it off! Your mother needs your help! So stop acting like you're five years old, please!"

Alexis, Daniel and Claire all stared at Betty in respect, and Alexis grinned, patting Daniel on the back as she eyed Betty up and down, "I like her! Good job, Danny!"

"Thanks, Alex. I'm glad you approve. And it's Daniel, remember?"

"Yeah, totally. She's just the kind of girl you need to get your shit together, DANNY! And it's Alex-IS, remember?"

Claire and Alexis went to a friend's summer home in The Hampton's to "hide out" until the company lawyers had been assured that Claire could turn herself in IF she was offered a deal for proving that she had been poisoned by Faye and could avoid being convicted of the woman's death.

They both fidgeted in the back seat of the car, looking out their windows and away from each other. Finally, Daniel sighed, grabbing her hand, and nervously intertwined his fingers with hers, "Betty, we really need to talk. I know...things are just...well, still kind of weird right now between us. But, first of all, thank you for all you said back at my dad's funeral. That was...really sweet of you."

She smiled, "Of course."

He looked into her eyes, his own glossy and his eyes red-rimmed, "Can I ask you something?" he smirked, "And I promise it's not...to propose! I just...well, I was wondering how long it takes to…"

"Feel 'normal' again?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Exactly!"

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, Daniel. Believe me, I wish I could tell you, after three months or six months, or a year, or three years, or...seven years...and boom, you're back to your old self again! You get your life back and everything is all healed. But that's not the way it works. This...this right now is as good as it gets.

Will you stop missing him and running over and over your last conversation or the last time you told him you loved him or feel like there wasn't SOMETHING or anything more you should or could have done to keep your father from dying? Maybe. Eventually, yes. You will feel better. You'll move on, and start living your life and feel almost back to "normal" again and then BAM! Out of nowhere some stupid little thing will happen to trigger the emptiness and it hits you again full force, and you realize he's gone and you miss him all over again, just as badly and strongly as you do right now."

He closed his eyes and let the tears fall, as she pulled him into her arms, and whispered, "It's going to be okay, Daniel. Your dad loved you."

He sobbed for a moment, then pushed away slightly, holding her out at arms' length and nodded, wiping away his tears as he smiled, "I know. He found you."

"Daniel…" she looked into his deep, cerulean eyes, eyes so full of pain and hurt. She held his face, and pulled him to her for a tender kiss that soon turned passionate.


	10. Chapter 10

"Excuse me...So sorry to disturb, Mr. Meade. But...we've arrived. And I'm afraid you have company."

Daniel looked up from Betty's lips enough to see there were several reporters attempting rather conspicuously to hide behind bushes and trees outside his loft.

Betty saw them, too and leaned forward, "Scotty, turn around please, before they see him and head to Queens! Roosevelt Avenue. You know my address! Take the usual roundabout way to make sure and shake any press that might have seen him and try to follow us. Thanks!"

Daniel smirked slightly, looking down at her hand in his, "Are you sure about this, Betty? You're taking me home to your family...again? Is your dad going to…" he winked as he lifted her hand up to indicate the ring she was no longer wearing.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes as she flinched slightly at his touch, "Daniel, don't be silly! NOBODY in my family is going to give you a hard time this time, I promise you. They all know … what you've been through and what you had to do today. It's fine. You can hide out with the Suarez family as long as you need to, okay? We all love you….I mean…"

His smile spread, as he raised his eyebrows, "Go ahead. What did you just say? You...LOVE me? Is that just because you feel sorry for me? Or...did you mean it?"

She blushed, trying to look away, "I didn't mean me! I mean...not… specifically me. I just meant...you know, you're like part of the family. We all...THEY all love you, you know what I mean! You're always welcome, that's all!"

He grinned, placing his hand on her cheek, "You're so cute when you blush like that, you know it? I'm welcome, huh? Like...when I stayed with your family after throwing up and helped them with decorating the Christmas tree while you did my job and covered for me all day?"

She shrugged, "Whatever! You know what I mean! Stop…"

"Stop what? What am I doing?" he started teasing her, kissing her lightly, and pulling down her dress at the shoulders so he could kiss them, as well.

She hunched up her shoulders, pulling away, giggling slightly, "You KNOW what you're doing!"

"No I don't! I'm overcome with grief, remember? Besides, you started it, woman! Kissing me like that! Haven't you ever heard the expression, don't poke a sleeping bear? You were definitely poking, lady!"

"Bear? You see yourself as a bear in this scenario?"

"Of course! Well, not me, specifically. I meant my whole...body...loves you, too. And welcomes you...my body loves you to touch any part of it you feel like… touching. Or kissing! Be my guest, please! Feel free." He kept kissing her as he spoke, all over; her neck, her shoulders, her cheeks, her eyes, her fingers. He was driving her insane!

"Daniel! I...um...don't….ohhhhhh don't stop! Mmmmmm…." she closed her eyes and gave into his "attack" on her senses and responded by grabbing him and kissing him back with all the intensity she felt for him.

Yes, of course, part of what she felt for him was pity, and sorrow. She was heartbroken on his behalf at all he was going through right now with losing his father, and worrying for his mother's sobriety and freedom, as well as everything he had at stake with his father's company and his newly discovered sister. How could she not feel bad for the man?

But truth be told, ever since that night on the bridge, at the wedding they crashed, and all the fun they had together, pretending to be a "couple" with her wearing his ring, if even only for one night had stirred her imagination.

What IF she was really THAT girl, the one he pretended to "be in love with", to have married? The fake relationship he spoke of with such passion certainly seemed real at the time. It sure felt real when he kissed her then (and now). Perhaps their little role-playing had felt all too real to Betty because she wanted it so badly to BE real?

She tried her best to keep her head, to tell herself this was most likely only a part of Daniel's overwhelmed emotional state. She was allowing him to kiss her, she was kissing him back because she was his friend and that's what he needed at the moment, to feel close to another human, to his friend.

She knew _**intellectually**_ that the man was a sex addict, and she was likely only enabling him to continue that behavior by being his…"fix" while he tried to process his grief and shock at all he had been through recently. Still, it felt SO damn good! She didn't want him to stop,,,ever!

After what ended all too quickly, yet somehow still seemed like forever to her in another world, one where she was a princess and he was her prince, Daniel's driver cleared his throat again and announced they were in Queens. "Um...I do apologize, sir, but...we're at Miss Suarez's home. Should I circle around as usual, and make sure there are no paparazzi following?"

Daniel straightened his suit, trying to tuck his shirt back into his pants and make sure his buttons were all done, then ran his hand through his hair, and grinned boyishly, "Yeah, great! That sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Scotty! I'll call you later and let you know what's going on. I'd better take my passport with me, just in case I decide to flee the country or something!" His driver reached into the glove compartment and handed the young man his passport and driver's license, "Here you go, sir. Don't lose that, just in case you find yourself needing to drive. You might find it relaxing, outside New York, that is!"

Daniel laughed, "Yeah, I might. Thanks again for the lessons. That was fun! I'll have to try that Autobahn thing you were telling me about in your days in the Air Force! One eighty five, wow! I can't imagine going that fast!"

The middle-aged man smiled at the two people he had watched flirt and thoroughly enjoy one another's company over the past several months now from his position in the driver's seat. He knew sexual tension and these two...had it in spades. He nodded towards Betty, who was frantically trying to fix her hair and her clothing before she went inside to the scrutiny of her nosy family and put his hand aside to 'whisper" to his boss, "Don't mess it up with this young lady, sir. She's worth much more than your usual 'type'! This girl is...special!"

Daniel leaned up and 'slid five' to his sometime mentor and friend, "You don't have to tell me, that, Scotty! Betty's...a VERY special girl! She's … incredible! And she's a pretty damn good kisser, too!" he waggled his eyebrows and winked at the older man, the goofy grin still plastered on his face, then exited the car and held out his hand to help Betty out, "Ready to face the firing squad?"

"It's fine! I'm telling you my family will be nice!"

"Yeah, sure. To me! They know I just came from my old man's funeral, so they'll take it easy on me. But it's you I'm worried about. I know how crazy your family is, Betty. They smell blood in the water like a shark and I'm sorry, honey, but...you look kind of...messy! Here. Let me help you fix yourself a little. Sorry, it's my fault. I kind of...messed you up."

He smiled at her, and tried to help her smooth her hair a bit and pulled down her dress in back to make sure she was covered up, then started playing with the buttons on the front of her dress.

She swatted him away, blushing, as she glanced down at her front to make sure she wasn't revealing any cleavage, "DANIEL! STOP! I made sure my buttons were all fixed!"

He shrugged impishly, "Oops! Sorry! I think I accidentally might have unbuttoned them again!"

She rolled her eyes, stepping back from him, and putting up her hand to ward him off, "Okay, never mind! Thanks, but I think I'm better off withOUT your "help!"

He held up both his hands, "Fine, sorry! I just got carried away. That dress is...VERY flattering. You should wear black more often. Especially when it's that low cut!"

She blushed again, "Thank you. But...it didn't start out being low cut, until you unbuttoned it so far down! Where is your tie, by the way?"

He smirked, noticing she had missed a button, and held up one hand, "Who cares about my damn tie? I think you...threw it down in the backseat. Okay, okay. I know. I'm incorrigible. I come in peace. You...uh...missed one. See?" He leaned down and fixed her button properly. "I can be a good boy. At least...in front of your family, I promise. Hands to myself. In public. Scout's honor."

He tried to do the Boy scout salute, but clearly had no idea what he was doing, so managed something that looked more like the vulcan 'live long and prosper' hand gesture.

Betty rolled her eyes, and pulled him along, "Right! Come on! Button up your shirt, please. Let's get this over with! Like you said, they won't say anything to you! I'll...handle my family." Daniel finished buttoning his shirt, and she helped him tuck it back inside his pants.

Once they went inside, Justin was practically bouncing off the walls, he was so excited, but he tried to be mindful of Daniel's sorrow, "Hey, Dan...um Mr. Meade!"

Daniel tried to smile, but made a face, "It's...Daniel, Justin! Please! Mr. Meade is...was my father!"

"Sorry! Hey, AB! How did...IT go? I heard...well, did Claire Meade...did Daniel's mom REALLY push Wilhelmina Slater into an open grave after the funeral?"

Daniel and Betty glanced at one another and both nodded, bursting into laughter at the memory of the spectacle. Daniel relaxed and patted Justin on the back as they entered, "Yep! She sure did, Justin! You should have seen it. It was AWESOME! My mom is...pretty cool!"

"WOW!"

"Mija! Daniel...come, sit down in the kitchen. Are you hungry? I made mole. And tamales. And flan. I wasn't sure if you two had any time to eat yet, mi amore, mijo."

Daniel tried to smile but was quite moved by the display of tenderness Betty's father was showing him, in referring to him as "son". He nodded, as he and Betty sat down, both exhausted by the emotional roller coaster of events over the recent past for both of them, but particularly for Daniel. His eyes began to mist over, but he held it together, and simply enjoyed the intense flavors and allowed his hunger to be satiated by the older man's obvious culinary talents.

Daniel didn't realize just how starving he was until he looked down at his empty plate, "That was...incredible, Mr. Suarez! Thank you! Um...is there ...any more of that ...flan left?"

"Of course, Daniel! Help yourself, mij...sorry. I didn't mean to...please, call me Ignacio!" Ignacio Suarez seemed to suddenly realize how his off-hand gesture of friendliness might seem inappropriately timed, considering this young man had just come from his own father's funeral.

Daniel looked into the warm brown eyes, his own blue ones, glossy with all the shed and yet unshed tears he seemed to be fighting off, and he managed a smile, as he shook his head, "It's okay, Mr...um Ignacio. I...it's nice of Betty to 'share' you with me today, actually. She seems to like my mom, too. I know Mom sure can't say enough nice things about your daughter! In fact, it seems my new 'sister' likes her, too!"

Ignacio put a healthy-sized portion of flan onto Daniel's plate as he sat down next to the heir apparent and watched his two daughters and grandson leave them to talk, no doubt to gossip about the Meade family and all it's drama. It was as if this family his youngest daughter had started working for was one of the ones on Ignacio's telenovelas!

"Ignacio, did you get along well with your father?"

"My father? No, honestly, not really. He was always busy, trying to provide for us, I never saw him much. And I think he disapproved of the fact that I learned to cook so well from mi madre y mi abuela. It wasn't...well, frankly it still ISN'T all that common in my culture for a man to do the cooking.

Although, my Rosa cooked, too. We often cooked together. I taught her all I knew and she was a wonderful student. We had lots of fun right here...in this kitchen."

He sighed, taking a deep breath, "But she was born wealthy and married to a rich man who I cooked for. That's where we met. I could see he didn't treat her right. I felt I needed to protect her."

Daniel seemed fascinated and anxious to hear about someone else's 'drama' other than his own for a change. "That's so cool! I don't think Betty's ever told me that about you. She doesn't talk much about her mom. I think it's still...you know, hard for her."

Ignacio nodded, indicating it was difficult for him, as well, "Yes. It is. For both of us. Daniel, can I ask something about your "new sister"?"

Betty's eyes widened in horror as she feared her father would ask something totally inappropriate about Alexis Meade. She noticed her papi had some weird fascination about the whole transgender thing.

She rushed away from her sister and nephew's annoying questions about her and Daniel and grabbed him by his wrist to pull him upstairs, "Papi! NO! I...um...Daniel, I NEED you! Upstairs. Right now! There's uh...something important about your mom's case we need to talk about. Excuse us, guys. We'll be right back. Thanks for the food, papi! It was delicious, as usual!"

The rest of the family stared at the two. Hilda picked up the napkin Daniel had been using, and shook her head, "Wow, Papi, he sure was hungry! He ate every bite!"

"He was so upset, he probably hadn't eaten in a long time."

Hilda smirked, as she noticed the smear of lipstick, the same shade as her sister's. "Yeah! I wonder what it was so important that Betty just HAD to take him upstairs all of a sudden? Poor guy, didn't even get that last piece of flan he seemed to want. He must have found something else he liked the taste of even more." she raised her eyebrows, and showed Justin the napkin to which her son just rolled his eyes and made a face, shrugging.

Then, his smile spread as all the implications of his aunt 'getting together' for real this time with Daniel Meade entailed and his mother watched and laughed as his expression changed.

Ignacio rolled his eyes, as he cleared the table silently alongside his eldest daughter. Did she really think he didn't notice what was going on under his own roof?

He tried to tell himself this was Betty, his youngest daughter, the sensible one. She was thoughtful, and not prone to getting herself into trouble like her older sister. Still, it hadn't escaped him that Daniel clearly had Betty's lipstick marks all over his face and neck! And she only wore that particular glossy pink lipstick when she...well, as her father, he didn't want to think of that! He knew how much pain the poor boy was in, and they were two consenting adults. But Betty was still his little mija!

He shook off the thought, trying to distract himself by doing dishes, when Justin came rushing in, his eyes wide, "The news said that Claire Meade just turned herself in at The Hamptons for Faye Summer's murder to clear her husband's name!"

"BETTY!"

Betty came rushing out of her bedroom, desperately trying to button her dress, with Daniel right behind her, zipping up his pants and buckling his belt as he frantically shoved his shirt back in, but didn't even attempt to button it all the way back up to his neck and revealing a fair bit of his chest.

"WHAT? What's going on?"

They all pointed to the television, replaying the video of Claire being taken into custody from where they had just left her with Alexis in the estate in The Hampton's. "SHIT! Why did she insist on doing that now? Betty, I'm sorry, honey. I've got to go!"

"Don't be stupid, Daniel. I know you have to go. But I'm going with you!" Betty grabbed both their shoes and started putting her own on as she stood, waiting for him and looked down at her family, all apparently waiting for some explanation.

She wasn't going to give the nosey bunch the satisfaction, however. Especially her sister. She just rolled her eyes, "WHAT? So? We were...kissing? Okay? It's no big deal. Daniel was...upset."

He finished putting on his shoes, then stood up on the step, and grabbed her for a kiss, dipping her, then grinning, "Oh, it IS a very big deal, Betty! But, come on, let's go! We can fill your family in on all the juicy details when we get back!" he smacked her lightly on the butt, then took her hand and kissed it, leading her downstairs carefully, so she wouldn't trip.

He smiled at her. His little Betty was such a klutz, he knew. But she was his klutz. And a very cute one! Just the fact that she was so obviously in this with him no matter what, made him feel invincible to all the scrutiny and otherwise emotionally draining drama that seemed to constantly surround his own family. Feeling like he was also part of Betty's now provided a huge sense of relief. And excitement.

_Betty's 'little black dress". _

products/fauna-dress?color=Black


	11. Chapter 11

_**CHAPTER 11**_

A/N: You have to go to the link, then select the red color in the middle to see Betty's dress here

products/pearl-dress?color=Aurora&gclid=Cj0KCQjww47nBRDlARIsAEJ34blChGumgs1wiUAUhe5vdficdLeQYVvOkiiCIvjjuZg6eT9JY_2EFREaAjLJEALw_wcB

Even though Claire's confession did in fact, clear Bradford's good name, at first, she was arrested and faced jail time herself. Thankfully, because of Betty and Daniel's testimony of the poison perfume's effects, along with Fey's diary, which was essentially the late fashion icon's confession from the grave that she had tried to murder Claire, only things went horribly wrong and the fashion icon ended up dead herself.

Daniel spotted her across the room and smiled. Her testimony had helped convince the jurors that his mother had been out of her right mind at the time when she watched Faye's car run off the road. They believed Betty's crazy, convoluted tale about being out of her mind on the perfume and they agreed with her conviction that Claire Meade was a kind, decent person who fiercely loved her family and wanted to protect them and was only here, because she wanted to face the consequences of her actions, regardless of the outcome and she cared about her husband's reputation even more than her own freedom.

After a champagne brunch in the conference room at Mode, Alexis walked over to Betty and smiled, then hugged her, "Thank you, Betty Suarez! You saved my mom from having to stay in jail just so she didn't feel guilty about letting her dead husband take the blame for her mistake! I know you've obviously been a very good influence on my goofy kid brother there, too! He was never this nice before! Or I wouldn't have been so pissed at him in the first place that I actually considered teaming up with that bitch to kick him out!"

"Try to, you mean! Like you would have been able to even if you wanted to!"

Alexis rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she walked away, "Don't push it, Danny! Just because I agreed for Mom and Betty's sake to play nice with you doesn't mean I think you know how to run all of Meade Publications! Let's be real, here! We both know I still have bigger balls than you!" she held up her hand to cut her brother off, "METAPHORICALLY, you dumbass! Really, Betty, how the hell do you deal with this idiot and manage to make him actually look almost smart? We all know you're the brains behind dumb dumb!"

Betty chuckled, and bit her lower lip, trying hard not to laugh at Daniel's expense, then shrugged, walking closer to her boss and friend and grabbing his hand, and managing a heartfelt look into his beautiful blue eyes, "Daniel's not dumb! And...he's gotten very good at his job, Alexis! You should give him a break! He's been trying very hard and has…"

Daniel smiled but shook his head, and leaned down, whispering as he squeezed her hand, "Thank you. But, it's okay, Betty! You don't have to defend me. Believe me, I'm used to it. She is my brother, after all! I grew up taking shit from him...her, whatever! It's like you and Hilda. Only imagine she was now a guy!"

Betty laughed at the thought, "I'd like to see my sister withOUT being able to show off her boobs!"

Daniel grinned, shrugging, "Actually, maybe you should borrow a few of your sister's outfits once in a while. I wouldn't mind seeing you in...some of them. They'd look better on you, of course. By the way, I really, really, really LOVE the dress you're wearing right now!"

She rolled her eyes, elbowing him as they left the room discreetly while everyone was still celebrating Claire's exoneration, "Hey!"

"What?" he asked innocently, then laughed, "Sorry. I couldn't help myself. You look...great, Betty!"

She blushed, "Thank you. I...do you really like it?" She twirled a bit, enjoying the feel of the flared skirt of the dress, "Christina made it for me. She's a really great designer."

He nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, she is. But...you make a very cute model, you know. We should feature you in a show sometime."

Betty snorted at that, "Yeah, right! I can just see Wilhelmina's face now when you tell her you want ME to be a model! She'd burst into flames! And Marc and Amanda would die laughing at me!"

He stopped the elevator the moment the doors swished shut on them, and grabbed her by her arms, then lifted up her chin to face him, "Stop it! Right now, Betty! I don't want to hear that crap, okay? You're beautiful! Believe me when I tell you that! You're twenty-two and you're allowed to make a few mistakes."

"Like my poncho on my first day?"

He smiled fondly, "Okay, maybe. Yeah. So what? You've learned since then. That WAS your first day, after all. This was your first job. You're young. It's okay for you to...mess up sometimes. Hey, you're the one who literally hauled my butt out of bars and picked me up and made me care about my job, too, Betty. Don't forget that! There's more to working at Mode than just...wearing the right clothes!"

She laughed, and he chuckled, too, realizing what he had just said, "Okay, fine. Maybe it IS a fashion magazine. But...I'm just saying, give yourself a break. You look fantastic right now! Hell, just wearing contacts makes a world of difference and wearing clothes that are more flattering and uh...okay, I just lost my train of thought…"

Betty raised an eyebrow, "You did? Because of me?"

He gave her a sideways glance and nodded, "Hey, what can I say? You...distracted me with your...intellect!"

"My...intellect? Really?"

"NO! Not really. I can't lie to you, Betty! Honestly you distracted the hell out of me with your boobs in that dress. But it helps!" he stammered, "I mean...it helps that you're so smart! Sorry! I know, I'm a pig!"

She smiled, moving in closer to him, and placing her hands on his chest, making him visibly affected by her touch, "Yes. You are. But...you're a cute pig!"

"Thanks? I think! I am sorry. I know I shouldn't say stuff like that. It's unprofessional. I did agree with Sofia about one thing. She always told me I was wasting your talents as my assistant."

"Thanks. But now that I think about it, she was probably just saying that stuff to make you mad as one of her backwards tactics for trying to…"

"Get into my pants? Yeah, no shit! Well, more accurately, I guess to get me to buy into her whole white picket fence scenario bullshit, but...whatever! It did stick in my gut a little, the stuff she said about me not appreciating what I had in you. She was right about that much, Betty. I HAVE been wasting your talent."

"Daniel, you already gave me a raise and a promotion!"

He winced, "Okay, listen, I have to tell you, being an 'associate editor' is not really…"

"Much of a promotion? Yes, I realize that, Daniel. It doesn't matter. It's still something."

"Now you're making me feel even worse!"

"Don't! But the raise is real, right?"

"Yes, Betty. I'm definitely giving you a raise. And NOT because of...well, anything personal. Just because you deserve it!"

"Okay. Good. Because, actually, I have a GREAT idea! Something that's going to use Christina's talents for design and your talent for...convincing advertisers to back us and...you know, how you charm people with your … um...charms!"

He grinned, thoroughly enjoying her babbling on his account, "My...charms, huh? You really think I'm that charming?"

She turned bright red, obviously getting flustered by him, "Whatever! Cut it out, Daniel. You KNOW you are!" She looked up at him, finding his presence completely and utterly taking her breath away as she stared into the abyss of those damn blue eyes again! What the hell was she going to do about this? The man had made her into an insufferable mess lately!

She literally couldn't think straight anymore around him! All she seemed to want to do lately was kiss the man! And what was worse was...he knew it! It wasn't like she could lie about how she felt. He always seemed to be able to read her mind. She was never any good at hiding her feelings from anybody, especially someone who knew her as well as her own best friend!

He laughed softly, "So?"

"So?" she looked at him, puzzled.

He gave her one of his 'I know I'm so hot looks, "Your...great idea? What is it?"

"OH! Right!" Okay, now who was getting distracted? It seemed she was objectifying her hot boss just as much as he was her. "I was thinking we should...have a fashion show for regular people. You know, normal-sized women. Instead of stick insects."

He thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Sure. I get it. You mean like they did in Paris for the fall ready-to-wear line? I liked it! That's actually not a bad idea. We could have people from different jobs come and model for us. Get nurses, maids, teachers…"

Betty raised her eyebrows, "Don't tell me you have a thing for nurses, maids and teachers? Are these going to be 'sexy nurses' playing 'doctor' and maids in one of those stupid French outfits...and teachers who get up on the desk and do a strip tease or something?"

He made a face, "NO! Don't be silly! I didn't even think of that! I...well, okay, NOW I'm thinking of it. But..no! I swear, I just meant ordinary women, alright? Although...don't knock the French thing until you've tried it!"

She hit him, "DANIEL! I'm serious!"

"Sorry! You started it, though, kissy girl!"

"You…ohmygod! Sometimes...you really drive me...crazy, Daniel! You're so…so..."

He grinned his sideways grin that she loved and hated and she shook her head, "FINE! Is this...your way of asking me to...model in the show? I think you know what my answer is if you ask me to wear a biker outfit!"

He looked down shamefully, "I deserve that! You know what, though? I never told you this, but...that day, when you yelled at me? I actually thought...look, don't get mad, but...I really thought you looked kind of hot in that outfit! I mean...your boobs were...okay, sorry! I know! I know. I'm not supposed to talk about…but...your makeup looked really pretty, too.

You were so cute, getting all mad at me like that and basically telling me to shove it in the middle of the street! I swear, part of me wanted to grab you and kiss you right there! But...I know you had every right to be totally pissed at me and you probably would have just slapped me!"

She gave him a look, "Probably?"

He put up both hands, laughing, "Okay, definitely! I know I was a jerk. I should never have treated you like that or put you in that position, feeling bad about yourself next to those stupid glamazons! But you should know...just because you didn't 'fit in' next to them doesn't diminish your beauty, Betty. They're skinny and tall. You're short and curvy. So what? That definitely doesn't make you ugly!

You had glasses before. You still have braces. Who cares? You won't have them forever. Besides, none of that...makes you ugly. Because you aren't. You never were."

She tried her best not to cry as they stepped off the elevator, "You mean

...not to you? Thanks, Daniel. That's sweet, but..." it reminded her of all the times her father had called her "intelligent or sweet" or...something that she understood translated to, "a work in progress". She was tired of always being told she was "pretty on the inside"!

"Not to anyone who isn't stupid or blind! You're unconventional. You don't always make the 'safe' fashion choices. But you're learning. Like I said, you're young. You're allowed to experiment with your style. But I'd say...speaking as a fashion editor, you are...beautiful. You have a great body, when you wear something that doesn't hide that fact, like an ugly poncho!

You have silky, gorgeous hair, as long as you...maintain it and don't stick pencils in it!" he teased.

"HEY! You did that, too!"

He laughed, then touched her cheek softly, "I know. Sorry! I couldn't resist. You have soft, beautiful skin, and...your eyes are so bright and intense, your smile is...well...infectious, even with your braces. Your smile is like 'sunshine on a cloudy day', Betty. And your lips...are...are…" he ran his finger over her bottom lip then leaned down to kiss her soundly, sliding his hands around her waist as she ran hers through his hair, totally caught up in the moment. The man could definitely kiss!


End file.
